Lafayette Miguel Bailey

Lafayette is 12 at the time of the main story line in the novel. He is a thoughtful boy who is dealing with horrific losses. He struggles with his own grief while his brothers deal with theirs. This forces Lafayette to learn some lessons on his own and to be more self-sufficient than he would have been if he had parents serving as caregivers. Lafayette wants his family to be like they were before their parents died. On an intellectual level, he knows this is not possible. On an emotional level, he wants nothing more than to have his family whole again.

Lafayette is the youngest of the three brothers, and he is heavily dependent on the older two, Ty'ree and Charlie. He is literally incapable of taking care of himself at this point, which means the older two boys have a great deal of responsibility toward...