Raphael Fernández
Raphael is one of the novel's narrators and protagonists. At fourteen, Raphael lives with his aunt and cousins at the Behala dumpsite. He has been sorting through trash for things to sell since he was a small child. Raphael finds a map, key, photo of a girl, and cash in a wallet one day. The discovery coincides with police arriving at the dump to find the same items. Rather than give them up, Raphael enlists the help of his friends to solve the mystery of what happened to José Angelico and find the money he stole from the vice-president.
Gardo
Gardo is another narrator and protagonist. He is Raphael's best friend. Although he is only seven hours older, Gardo acts as a big brother figure at times. After Raphael comes under police suspicion, Gardo takes a more active role in the story by tricking Olivia into bringing him to meet with Gabriel in prison. Although he is more paranoid than Rat and Raphael, Gardo shows his bravery when he twice goes alone to meet Marco, the prison guard, to negotiate how to get Gabriel's Bible.
Rat (Jun-Jun)
Rat is another narrator and protagonist. He is several years younger than Raphael and Gardo, and lives without any family under the base of a disused dump conveyor belt. Rat receives his nickname because of the rats he lives among and because of his resemblance to the creatures. Although young, Rat uses his experience of life as an orphan outside the dump to help Gardo and Raphael track down the money. He eventually reveals that he is from an island called Sampalo, and hopes to make enough money that he can return and buy a fishing boat.
Father Juilliard
Father Juilliard is a middle-aged foreigner who runs the Behala Mission School. He narrates some portions of the book and compiles the different characters' testimonials. He has a soft spot for Jun-Jun, who exploits the man's generosity through repeated deceptions. Father Juilliard acknowledges that Behala dumpsite boys are some of the greatest liars in the world.
Olivia Weston
Sister Olivia is an Englishwoman who volunteers at the Mission School while taking a year off before university. She narrates most of the middle section of the novel, explaining how the boys fooled her into bringing Gardo to meet Gabriel in prison. Because of her involvement, police question her but don't charge her with anything. She leaves for England and is upset that she can't return to Behala out of fear of prosecution.
José Angelico
José Angelico is an adopted orphan who works for eight years as Senator Zapanta's houseboy before stealing six million dollars from him. He steals the money because his grandfather, Gabriel, taught him from an early age that Zapanta stole millions of dollars that were supposed to go to the poor. Angelico dies while being interrogated by police, but the map and key he puts out in a trash bag allow Raphael, Gardo, and Rat to track down the stolen cash. Angelico's only living relative is Pia Dante, his young daughter. Knowing he will be killed, José leaves a letter with the Senator's money asking the finder to take care of Pia and to return the cash to the poor people to whom it rightfully belongs.
Senator Zapanta
Senator Zapanta is the country's vice-president. When his houseboy steals six million dollars from the vault in his basement, Zapanta uses his political influence to have the police torture Angelico to death. Zapanta is depicted as a hypocritical politician who campaigns on assisting the poor while siphoning off money earmarked to help them. When Gabriel Olondriz, a journalist, sets out to prove that the senator stole millions of "seed-corn" money for the poor, the corrupt politician frames Gabriel for a murder that results in a life sentence.
Pia Dante
Pia is José Angelico's daughter. She attends a private school that José pays for by working as the vice-president's houseboy. Absent from most of the story, she appears at her family's graves on All Souls' Day and tells the boys she has been waiting there for a week. Rat feeds the malnourished girl. She then joins the group, distributing the cash her father left over the Behala dumpsite. She goes with the boys to Sampalo, where they live as fishermen.
Frederico Gonz
Mr. Gonz is a man who makes grave memorials. He narrates a brief section of the book, explaining that José Angelico contracted him to make a gravestone for Pia Dante, despite the fact she hadn't died. In that grave box, José hides the six million dollars he steals from Zapanta.
Raphael's Aunt
Raphael's aunt acts as the boy's guardian, as both his parents are absent. He lives with her and her younger children at the Behala dumpsite. Raphael gives her any money he makes so she can buy rice to keep him and the family alive.
