Hattie Owen

The twelve-year-old girl who is at the heart of the story, Hattie is an independent child who doesn't know her uncle Adam exists until just before her twelfth birthday. Hattie thinks a great deal and she has many questions about Adam and about how he has impacted her life, even though she never knew about him. Hattie and her parents run a boarding house and she's happy with her life. When she's invited to spend the summer with her best friend, Hattie declines the offer. She says that she doesn't want to leave her home, her parents and all that's familiar. Hattie has only one friend her own age but considers several adults as friends. She recognizes the family dynamics that drive her parents and grandparents, including that her grandmother doesn't approve of Hattie's father and that her mother will give in to most of her grandmother's...