The array of characters in Surrogate Sister represents people one might encounter in life. There are the students at Cassie's high school who run the gamut from Duff, who has spiked hair and wears a safety-pin through her nose, to her close and loyal friend Bel-Bel. There is Deenie, a childhood chum, whose sexual experiences help Cassie clarify her own feelings about sexual intimacy. Most importantly, there is Sam, Cassie's love interest, who serves as the vehicle through whom Cassie works out her hostilities toward her mother.

The two characters who propel the plot and around whom the action develops are Cassie and her mother.

Cassie is the more complex and fully developed character. It is she who faces conflict and grows and changes within the story. A popular junior at Blair High School, Cassie is attractive, blessed with dates, and unusually levelheaded and...