characters

• Jade Butler: The protagonist of the novel. Jade is a high school junior who loves Spanish. She’s black and overweight and she lives in a part of Portland that’s historically black and low-income. 
• Sam: A white teen who begins attending St. Francis with Jade. Like Jade, Sam stands out at St. Francis because she buses in from Northeast Portland, a neighborhood that many at St. Francis 
• Maxine: Jade’s mentor in the Woman to Woman program. Maxine is a recent graduate from the local Portland State University and she attended St. Francis as a teen. 
• Mom: Jade’s mother. Mom had Jade when she was 16 and so she didn’t finish school or attend college. Because of this, it’s her dream to see Jade succeed academically
• Mrs. Parker: Jade’s guidance counselor at St. Francis. Mrs. Parker is an older white woman and she has a black son-in-law, so she sees herself as uniquely positioned to help black kids like Jade 
• E.J.: Jade’s uncle; E.J. is Mom’s much younger brother. Since E.J. is only 20, Jade feels as though he is more of a sibling than an uncle. E.J. is an aspiring deejay
• Lee Lee: Jade’s best friend in her North Portland neighborhood. Lee Lee is an aspiring poet and she attends Northside, the local high school. She and Jade see each other and they talk often
• Dad: Jade’s dad. Jade sees that while her birth condemned Mom to a life of poverty, it helped give Dad the kick he needed to get his life together, albeit through questionable means
• Mr. Flores: Jade and Sam’s Spanish teacher at St. Francis. Jade likes and looks up to Mr. Flores, as he seems kind and Spanish is Jade’s favorite subject. 
• Mia: Maxine’s sister. Mia owns a gallery in Portland and she makes a point to show local and emerging artists, especially artists of color. She’s kind, generous, and interested in getting to know Jade
• Jon: Maxine’s ex-boyfriend and a friend of E.J.’s. He never appears in person in the novel, but both Maxine and E.J. talk about him. 
• Mrs. Winters: Maxine, Mia, and Nathan’s mother and Mr. Winters’s wife. She’s very concerned about appearances and keeps an impeccable, expensive-looking home. Mrs. Winters also loves collecting art by black artists.
• Sabrina: The founder and executive director of the Woman to Woman mentorship program. She’s tall and thin, with very dark skin, thin braids, and a high-pitched voice. Though Sabrina’s intentions are good
• Natasha Ramsey: A 15-year-old black girl who lives across the river in Vancouver, Washington. Jade doesn’t know Natasha, but it still hits her hard when she learns that when police raided a house party, they beat Natasha
• Mrs. Baker: Lee Lee’s English teacher. Though Mrs. Baker teaches at a public high school with an awful reputation, Jade sees that Mrs. Baker is, in many ways, giving her students a more interesting and nuanced
• Bailey: One of Maxine’s best friends. She wears her hair braided into thick cords and pinned into a bun. Bailey grills Maxine about Jon and she shows that she cares deeply for her friend and
• Kennedy/Glamour Girl: One of the only other black students at St. Francis. Though Jade thought at first that this meant that she and Kennedy might be able to connect and be friends, she soon discovered that Kennedy’s
• Josiah: One of the only other black students at St. Francis. Josiah is nice and fun to be around when Jade tutors him one-on-one in Spanish, but he turns into an entirely different person
• Gina: One of Woman to Woman’s board members. Gina is a short white woman with spiky black hair. A former painter herself, Gina speaks at length with Jade at the benefit event and she offers
• Kira: One of Maxine’s best friends. She has straight, light brown hair. Along with Bailey, she tells Maxine that she deserves better than someone like Jon. Kira’s advice about college is helpful for
• Alan: E.J.’s best friend. He was murdered in a shootout sometime before the novel begins. The event was traumatizing for E.J.—Jade suggests that E.J.’s trauma and grief is what caused him to drop out