Mia Halliday

Although the novel is narrated by the six younger children who dominate the bulk of its narrative, their attentions are primarily fixed on the enigmatic figure of Mia Halliday, a beautiful blonde girl who lives in the rich side of town. From the novel's outset, Mia appears to be on top of the social chain in Falls Landing, both within the community of children and in the broader class-based sense; her mother works for an organization called Star Search with a man named Stone, and it seems clear to everyone that Mia is slated for a successful career in Hollywood. Her association with the beloved Sammy Liu-Lou and the intensely handsome Eddie Suarez only further cements the public perception that Mia is headed places.

However, following Sammy's disappearance, Mia's dominant position among the other children begins to waver and collapse, and she participates in increasingly strange behaviors...