Liza Winthrop: The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Liza is a 17-year-old girl living in the upscale neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights. She, along with her younger brother, Chad, attends Foster Academy, a private school nearby, which is facing financial trouble, and is the student council president there. She is desperate to become an architect at MIT, similar to her father, who is an engineer that studied there.
Annie Kenyon: Annie, also 17, lives "far uptown" in a shabby neighborhood. She lives with her father and grandmother, who were both Italian immigrants, and her American mother. She loves plants, is a brilliant singer, and misses her home from when she was young in San Francisco.
Ms. Isabelle Stevenson: Ms. Stevenson is Liza's art teacher at Foster Academy, who is deeply involved in the school's extracurriculars, and lives with her fellow teacher, Ms. Widmer, who it turns out is her partner.
Ms. Katherine Widmer: Ms. Widmer is Liza's English teacher, inspires and looks after her students, and lives with Ms. Stevenson (who's secretly her partner).
Sally Jarrell: Sally attends Foster Academy, and is a close friend of Liza. She and her boyfriend, Walt, who also attends the school, become the student leaders of the drive to help Foster Academy's financial difficulties.
Mrs. Poindexter: Mrs. Poindexter is the very conservative and traditional headmistress of Foster Academy.
