Jacob Todd (the younger)

Jacob Todd is the seventeen-year-old protagonist of the novel. When he first arrives in Amsterdam at his grandmother's wishes, he feels extremely out of place, and if he is inconveniencing the family he is staying with. The week that he spends in the Netherlands completely changes his life, for the better. In America, Jacob had struggled with depression, known as "mouse moods," and he had even considered killing himself. At the urging of his grandmother, he went to Amsterdam to visit his grandfather's grave and to meet the old woman who had cared for him when he was injured during the war. In Amsterdam, Jacob learns the truth about his family: his grandfather fathered a child with a Dutch woman that he fell in love with. The family Jacob is staying with is actually his relatives. Jacob goes through many identity crises during his week...