To Night Owl From Dogfish

Avery Bloom is the novel’s other protagonist. Like Bett, she is 12 and has a single, gay father (Sam), but she lives in New York and is temperamentally very different from her eventual friend. She loves research and school but has a lot of fears and worries. She is highly organized and careful, has trouble sleeping, and doesn’t always speak up for herself right away.

Also like Bett, Avery initially focuses on her differences from her potential “sister” but learns to see these as a strength. Through her friendship with Bett, Avery also opens up her heart to her mother, Kristina. She also learns to bend the rules and to overcome her fears, the biggest of which (drowning) she sets aside to save Bett. Both girls help each other stand up for themselves while giving adults the respect and honesty they deserve.

Marlow Devlin is Bett’s biological father, as well as the parent who raised her (Bett’s other father, Philip, died when she was little). Marlow is a builder and highly knowledgeable, but informal. Like his daughter, Marlow enjoys being impulsive and taking reasonable risks. He likes outdoor activities such as riding bikes and swimming and is somewhat unconventional: He and Bett live in an old church that he purchased. Although they have what they need, they do not have a lot of extra money. Marlow is very dedicated and close to his daughter thanks to both their similar personalities and the amount of time they have spent alone together.

Marlow learns to accept others even after having difficult times with them (specifically, Sam). Although he ultimately falls in love with a different man (Javier), he befriends Sam for the sake of their daughters and even accepts him as part of the family.

Sam Bloom is Avery’s father. He is a professional, affluent architect in New York. His speech and writing are more formal than the other characters’, and like his daughter, he enjoys research and planning and is highly organized. He does not take major risks or make last-minute decisions. These differences from Marlow inhibit the men’s ability to get along on a trip that was already stressful.

Sam is focused on division for a long time—possibly more than any of the other characters. He issues forceful mandates to his daughter, prohibiting her from contacting Bett or going to camp with her. He himself cut off contact with Kristina—a pattern he later repeats with Marlow. However, Sam ultimately learns to accept others when his daughter’s safety is called into question. Thankful for the friendship between the girls, which helped them survive, he no longer thinks it is “unhealthy” for them to talk. He even becomes friends with Marlow and Kristina, in addition to allowing them both into Avery’s life.

Betty (Gaga) is Bett’s grandmother and Marlow’s mother. She lives in Texas, has a big heart, and loves her family. Gaga is also slightly quirky: She is bad at keeping secrets, doesn’t have much of a verbal filter, and uses funny sayings. She is naturally theatrical, although she was not an actress prior to meeting Kristina.

Although Gaga normally doesn’t get to see Bett that much due to living in a different state, she spends a lot of time with her in Seelocken, enhancing their already deep bond. She also becomes a sort of surrogate grandmother to Avery, who doesn’t have a grandmother anymore. Her wisdom and generosity often steer the girls in the right direction, while her willingness to embrace love opens up new avenues for her as well. By the end of the novel, she gains a new acting career and a husband (Dinos).

Kristina is Avery’s mother, having been Sam’s best friend during college. However, due to Sam and Kristina’s falling-out, Kristina was not part of Avery’s life until the summer of CIGI.

Kristina is a playwright who is full of profound wisdom and beautiful insights, but she is also impulsive, reckless, and unrealistic. This combination of traits leads her to accept Bett’s invitation to CIGI and facilitates the quick bond she forms with the girls, but it also gets Avery and Bett into trouble. Eventually, Avery points out to Kristina that being a real parent means more than having fun with one’s children. Kristina adjusts and eventually obtains partial custody of her daughter, thereby (re)expanding her own family. She also becomes a surrogate mother figure to Bett and a great friend and career mentor to Gaga. Through her successful plays as well as her changing attitude toward parenting, Kristina proves that she can be both responsible and whimsical.

Javier is first introduced as Kristina’s friend, a ballet dancer, whom the girls ask to pose as a “fake date” for Marlow to make Sam jealous. Javier seems fun-loving, young-at-heart, funny, and talented from the start, but in his relationship with Marlow, he shows a more mature side, such as being good at cooking and hospitable to Bett. He even helps care for Bett and Avery when they both get injured. In the end, he has depth to match the other characters and spins poetic turns of phrase similar to Kristina.