Cassie Logan - The narrator and protagonist. Cassie is the second-oldest Logan child. She has a fiery temper like her Uncle Hammer. Also, she is very naive concerning the facts of racism.
Little Man (Clayton Chester Logan) - A meticulously neat first-grader, Little Man is the youngest of the Logan children.
Stacey Logan - A thirteen-year-old boy, Stacey is the oldest of the Logan children. He is part-adult, part-child.
Christopher-John - A cheerful seven-year-old, Christopher-John is the second youngest of the Logan children. He is timid.
Papa (David Logan) - Cassie's father. He values his independence highly, leaving to work on the railroad in order not to lose ownership of Logan land.
Mama (Mary Logan) - Cassie's mother, a schoolteacher.
Uncle Hammer - Papa's brother, Hammer lives in Chicago. He has a short temper.
Big Ma (Caroline Logan) - Papa's mother. A woman of sixty, she runs the Logan farm.
T. J. Avery - A trouble-making friend of Stacey's. The Averies are sharecroppers on Granger land. T. J. has a younger brother named Claude.
Jeremy Simms - A white boy who is often beaten for walking to school with and associating with the Logan children. His sister is Lillian Jean, who is often rude to Cassie. He has two big brothers, Melvin and R. W., who use T. J. pretending they are his friend.
Lillian Jean Simms - A prissy seventh grader.
Melvin and R. W. Simms - The older Simms brothers make trouble. They pretend to befriend T. J., but make fun of him behind his back.
L. T. Morrison - A big, burly man with streaks of white hair who comes to work on the Logan farm.
Mr. Jamison - A local lawyer; a white man. His forefathers bought land from Harlan Granger during the reconstruction, and sold some of it to the Logan family. Mr. Jamison is very sympathetic to the plight of the black community.
The Wallace Family (Kaleb, Dewberry, etc.) - The Wallace family runs a general store on Harlan Granger's land. They are violent, brutal people.
Harlan Granger - A rich plantation owner who is anxious to buy back the Logan's land.
