Characters
Jill Brenner
* The main character in the book. She is in Mrs. Minish’s 5th grade class. She goes along with bullying Linda; calls her Blubber. She is best friends with Tracy Wu, but Tracy is not in Mrs. Minish’s class. Jill becomes friends with Wendy and Caroline, but by the end of the book they are no longer friends. At the end of the book she becomes friends with Rochelle. Jill is a stamp collector, like her best friend Tracy. This is the first year she has been in Wendy and Caroline’s class, the second time in Linda’s class, and has been with Donna, Bruce, and Robby since kindergarten.
On a side note, Jill is in 5th grade and still believes in the Tooth Fairy!
Wendy
* A girl in Jill’s class. She is the head bully. She is popular and pretty much rules the whole class. She is best friends with Caroline, but towards the end of the book becomes best friends with Linda. At the very end she ends up becoming best friends with Laurie. Wendy is very good at lying. She is the one who gave Linda the nickname Blubber.
Caroline
* A girl in Jill’s class. She is Wendy’s best friend, and is her sidekick in bullying Linda. She always does what Wendy says and seems to be a little bit afraid of her. At the end of the book she becomes best friends with Donna Davidson because Wendy decided to become best friends with Linda.
Linda Fischer
* A girl in Jill’s class. Wendy nicknames Linda “Blubber”after she gives a report on the whale’s fat (blubber). She is the pudgiest girl in the class. Almost everyone in the class bullies her. She does not know how to defend herself. Towards the end of the book she becomes best friends with Wendy, but by the end she is alone again.
Tracy Wu
* Jill’s best friend. She is Chinese-America, and a stamp collector, like Jill. She is in a different 5th grade class than Jill.
Rochelle
* A new girl in school and is in Jill’s class. She barely talks. She does not bully Linda at all. She defends Linda during the mock trial. At the end
of the story she becomes friends with Jill.
Donna Davidson
* A girl in Jill’s class. At the end of the book she becomes best friends with Caroline. She is one of the many kids in the class who bullies Linda, and calls her Blubber.
Robby Winters
* A boy in Jill’s class. He is one of the many kids in the class who bullies Linda, and calls her Blubber. He helps catch Linda during the mock trial when Linda tried to escape.
Bruce Bonatrava
* A boy in Jill’s class. He is the fattest kid in 5th grade.
Irwin
* A boy in Jill’s class. He is one of the many kids in the class who bullies Linda, and calls her Blubber. He helps catch Linda during the mock trial when Linda tried to escape.
Laurie
* A girl in Jill’s class. At the end of the book she becomes best friends with Wendy.
Kenny Brenner
* Jill’s little brother. He is in fourth grade. He annoys Jill, a lot. He always recites facts from his Guinness Book of World Records, which Jill is sick of hearing.
Gordon Brenner
* Jill and Kenny’s father. He is a tax lawyer.
Anne Brenner
* Jill and Kenny’s mother. She works with computers. She is a smoker but is trying to stop smoking. She swears around the house often, and is okay with her kids doing it, as long as they know that there are some people who don’t approve of those words.
Mrs. Sandmeier
* She is the housekeeper for the Brenner family. She takes care of Jill and Kenny after school.
Mr. Machinist
* Jill and Tracy put rotten eggs in his mailbox on Halloween because he’s mean and they think he deserves it. He catches them on his property and threatens to report Jill and Tracy to the police. Every Halloween he hides in his bushes and takes pictures of kids on his property. He also sprays them with his hose.
Warren
* A boy who is the son of Gordon’s college roommate. Warren and Jill do not like each other. He is Jewish, and Jill and her family have to attend his Bar Mitzvah. Linda and her family are also at Warren’s Bar Mitzvah.
Mrs. Minish
* Jill’s fifth grade teacher. Jill doesn’t like her because she is boring and strict. Regarding the bullying, she is completely oblivious to what's been going on in her classroom.
Mrs. Horvath
* She is the “Lunch Teacher” and is very strict also. She patrols the halls and the classrooms while the students are eating lunch in their classrooms. She is completely oblivious to the bullying.
Miss Rothbelle
* Jill’s music teacher. She is also strict.
Mr. Nichols
* The principal at Jill’s school.
Mr. Witneski
* Jill’s gym teacher.
Ms. Valdez
* The school office secretary at Jill’s school.