Annabelle is an eleven-year-old girl living on a multi-generational farm in 1943 Pennsylvania. She is perceptive, fiercely independent, and possesses a strong internal sense of justice. When bullying begins to plague her community, she takes it upon herself to handle the threat directly rather than involving adults. She wears her hair short like pilot Amelia Earhart and often seeks quiet refuge in her family's barn.

Toby is a shell-shocked veteran of the First World War who roams the Pennsylvania hills as a quiet recluse. He lives in an old smokehouse and survives on game and berries. Regarded as strange by most of the community due to his unkempt appearance and the useless guns he carries, he forms a quiet understanding with the McBride family, who treat him with basic dignity.

Betty is a fourteen-year-old girl who comes from the city to live with her grandparents because she is deemed unmanageable. With blonde hair and blue eyes, she easily fools adults into seeing her as a sweet, innocent girl. In reality, she is a sadistic bully who threatens younger children, crushes small animals, and uses intimidation to assert dominance over the local schoolhouse.

Ruth is Annabelle's quiet, delicate classmate and desk-mate. Unlike the children from farming families, Ruth is the daughter of a bookkeeper and always wears perfectly ironed dresses. She is timid, loves to read, and lacks the toughness required to stand up to community bullies.

John is Annabelle's father, a hardworking and prominent farmer in the community. He raises his children to be independent and responsible, never sugarcoating difficult truths about the ongoing world war. He judges people based on their character rather than their origins or eccentricities.

Sarah is Annabelle's twenty-eight-year-old mother. Having married at sixteen and given birth at seventeen, she shoulders the immense responsibility of caring for three generations of her family while managing heavy farm work. She is stern, practical, and deeply wise, instilling a sense of duty in her children.

Aunt Lily is Annabelle's unmarried aunt who works as the local postmistress. She compensates for her rigid life with intense religious fervor and quick judgments about her neighbors. She easily falls for Betty's innocent facade while harboring deep suspicions about anyone who appears different or eccentric.

Annabelle's grandfather is the serious patriarch of the family, descending from Scottish roots. He provides Annabelle with unvarnished truths about the harsh realities of nature and the area's history, including how the local hollow earned its name through the trapping and killing of wolves.

Mrs. Taylor is the pragmatic schoolteacher in Wolf Hollow. She manages forty students of varying ages and educational commitments. Recognizing that many older farm boys see little use for schooling, she adapts her lessons practically while maintaining an air of authority, symbolized by her glamorous Ford car.

Andy is a hefty, intimidating farm boy whose parents run a dairy farm. He attends school only when the weather is bad or he wants a change of scenery. Used to relying on his size to scare others, he finds himself baffled and eventually charmed by Betty's manipulative daring.

Mr. Ansel is a friendly, kind-hearted farmer of German descent. Despite his warm nature, his thick German accent and heritage make him a target for community suspicion and vandalism, as tensions run high due to the ongoing Second World War.

Annie Gribble is a widowed telephone operator who manages the local switchboard from her front room. She possesses an insatiable curiosity and habitually eavesdrops on private conversations, acting as the primary source of spreading gossip throughout the rural hills.

James is Annabelle's younger brother. Innocent and impressionable, he easily falls into awe of older children and requires Annabelle's active protection when the local bullying begins to escalate.

Constable Oleska is a local law enforcement officer in the Wolf Hollow area. He is responsible for managing community complaints and finds himself navigating the conflicting accusations between the established farming families and the newer arrivals.