| Matthew |
Astor | Laura's new boyfriend. Aka: Matt |
| Carol |
Blackburn | Ms. Hunt's superior; the school's dean |
| Mr. |
Boebert | Dean Blackburn's assistant |
| Denise |
Brown | Ossie's mother |
| Ossie |
Brown | Protagonist |
| Mrs. |
Collins | Grandma Alice's oldest friend |
| Sydney |
Danvers | Matthew's friend |
| Angela |
Davis | American activist and scholar |
| Ossie |
Davis | American actor, director, and writer |
| Kevin |
Durant | Professional basketball player |
| Mr. |
Edwards | Grandma Alice's neighbor |
| Mr. |
Green | Lives with Grandma Alice |
| Dr. |
Henley | Morgan Henley's father |
| Morgan |
Henley | Matthew's friend |
| Ronald |
Henley | Professor of American literature at Columbia University |
| Randall |
Houston | President of the NAACP |
| Tasha |
Hunt | Ossie's English teacher |
| Michael |
Jackson | Famous American singer and performer |
| Ms. |
Jenkins | Single mother of three |
| Malik |
Johnson | Naima's father |
| Mrs. |
Johnson | Naima's mother |
| Naima |
Johnson | Ossie's creative writing group member |
| Miss |
Loretta | Lives with Grandma Alice |
| Claudia |
MacTeer | Primary narrator of *The Bluest Eye* |
| Luis |
Martinez | Ossie's creative writing group member |
| Mrs. |
Martinez | Luis's mother |
| Yaribel |
Martinez | Luis's father |
| Kareem |
Matthews | One of the basketball stars |
| Toni |
Morrison | American novelist and Nobel Prize winner |
| Tyler |
Patis | One of the basketball stars |
| Sandra |
Peters | Grandma Alice's oldest friend |
| Mr. |
Richmond | New Braxton's English language arts teacher |
| Coach |
Ryan | Ossie's basketball coach |
| Mr. |
Sanders | School bus driver |
| Big |
Teak | Street kingpin |
| Mark |
Twain | American author and humorist |
| Mrs. |
Wright | School guidance counselor |
| Adam |
| The quiet kid at school |
| Ahmad |
| Lives with Grandma Alice |
| Alice |
| Ossie's grandmother |
| Felipe |
| Latino man at the party |
| Gambino |
| Laura's favorite music artist |
| Jamal |
| Naima's brother; has Down syndrome |
| Jamel |
| One of Ossie's friends |
| Janet |
| Black woman at the party |
| Kevin |
| Black man at the party |
| Kyle |
| Ossie's former teammate |
| Laura |
| Ossie's ex-girlfriend |
| Mateo |
| Luis's boyfriend |
| Morgan |
| One of Ossie's classmates |
| Patrick |
| Ossie's bench-warming teammate |
| Porter |
| Ossie's former teammate |
| Tiffany |
| Ossie's elementary school valentine |
| Tommy |
| Ossie's teammate |
| Zack |
| Ossie's teammate |
