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Ben Ross

Gordon High’s young, talented, and charismatic history teacher known for his creative teaching style. After Mr. Ross shows his class a film on the Holocaust, he’s unable to answer a series of questions from his students, so he conceives a classroom experiment to help them better understand human behavior and what it might have been like to live under Hitler’s dictatorship in post-World War I Germany. Mr. Ross has been teaching at Gordon High for two years at the start of The Wave and is one of the novel’s protagonists.

Read an in-depth analysis of Mr. Ross.

Laurie Saunders

A smart and popular senior at Gordon High. Laurie is disciplined in both her studies and her role as the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, The Grapevine. One of protagonists of The Wave and the novel’s hero, Laurie emerges as a brave voice of dissent as The Wave movement’s fascist tendencies begin to take over and corrupt Gordon High. 

Read an in-depth analysis of Laurie Saunders.

Mrs. Saunders

Laurie’s mother. A leader at the county’s League of Women Voters, Mrs. Saunders is bright, perceptive, and politically astute. She immediately sees and raises red flags about The Wave and helps Laurie see how the movement’s totalitarian tendencies crush individuality and individual freedoms. 

Read an in-depth analysis of Mrs. Saunders.

David Collins

Laurie’s boyfriend and the running back for Gordon High’s football team. A senior, David is tall, good-looking, bright, and hopes to pursue computer engineering in college. After watching Mr. Ross’s film about the Holocaust, though, it’s clear David has trouble feeling empathy for others. For much of The Wave, he’s also naive and idealistic, believing that the Holocaust could never happen again and failing to see the bad The Wave movement brings. 

Read an in-depth analysis of David Collins.

Robert Billings 

A distant, disengaged, and disheveled student in Mr. Ross’s history class. Robert is the frequent victim of bullying and fears he’ll never succeed or live up to the standard set by his older brother, Jeff, a former baseball star and straight-A student at Gordon High. Robert’s low self-esteem and bullying make him highly susceptible to falling for The Wave. As the movement takes off, he becomes one of its principal participants and defenders.

Read an in-depth analysis of Robert Billings.

Amy Smith

Laurie’s best friend. Amy is also pretty, popular, smart, and empathetic, though insecure and concerned that she doesn’t measure up to Laurie. Her insecurity causes her to compete with Laurie for boys, grades, and popularity and makes her more willing to join The Wave and be lured by the movement’s false promise of equality. 

Christy Ross

Ben Ross’s wife and Gordon High’s music and choir teacher. As The Wave gains momentum, Christy becomes a voice of reason, continually warning her husband not to let his experiment get out of control.

Brian Ammon

A senior and Gordon High’s starting quarterback. Brian is smart but doesn’t work hard in school. He’s also quick-tempered and readily fights with his archrival, Deutsch, the football team’s second-string quarterback. As The Wave gains momentum at Gordon High, he becomes one of the movement’s monitors, or spies, as well as one of its main defenders.

Brad

Robert’s chief tormentor at the start of The Wave. Brad seems to take special pleasure in tormenting Robert, but after The Wave takes off, he adopts the movement’s principles of community and equality, and no longer bullies or shuns Robert. Brad initially doesn’t bow to The Wave’s peer pressure, but eventually embraces the movement and praises it, saying it has eliminated cliques.

Eric 

A football player and member of Mr. Ross’s history class. Eric, the one student identified as Black in the novel, emphatically declares after Mr. Ross’s lesson on the Holocaust that he wouldn’t have gone along with the Nazis, though later he becomes an ardent supporter of The Wave.

Principal Owens

Gordon High’s principal. Mr. Owens is tall, speaks with a deep voice, and dresses in three-piece suits, all of which make him an especially intimidating figure for students and teachers alike. Principal Owens is skeptical of The Wave, especially as parents begin to complain, but given his respect for Mr. Ross, allows the teacher to see his experiment through to its end.

Carl Block

The investigative reporter for the The Grapevine and a consummate practical joker. Carl rises as a voice of dissent against The Wave and joins Laurie to publish a special edition of the paper to expose its truths.

Alex Cooper

Music reviewer of The Grapevine and Carl’s partner in crime. Another non-joiner of The Wave, Alex contributes to the paper’s exposé on The Wave.

Mr. Saunders

Laurie’s father. Mr. Saunders supports The Wave at first but after hearing that a Jewish sophomore was beaten up at school, he shares his concerns with Laurie.

Norm Schiller

Gordon High’s football coach. He’s initially grateful to Mr. Ross and The Wave for its potential to help his team be more disciplined and play with unity. However, after a thirty-six-point loss to Clarkstown, Coach Schiller complains that The Wave did no good.

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