Characters

Since I just did a poll about characters, I think I should talk about them as well.

Lilly's main character traits are smart, funny, sarcastic and ultimately kind.  Lilly's conflict is not only that she is hiding from the police... she's also hiding from the shocking truth that her mother had left her when she was only a baby.  Lilly comes to peace with the truth by concluding that no matter what, her mother once loved her, and she finally begins to accept that she shot her mother.

T. Ray is everything a father should not be: cruel, neglectful and abusive.  He forces Lilly to kneel on grits and endure other punishments.  At the end, the reason for his abusiveness is revealed: he sees Deborah (Lilly's mother) in Lilly, and is mad at her for leaving him, because he loved her.

August is like the queen bee of the story.  She is kind, loyal and wise.  August swore against marrying and so never did.  She works as a beekeeper and the leader of the Daughters of Mary.  August has wisdom beyond most people.  She understands the way people and things work.  August is like a big rock protecting Lilly, and gives her great comfort throughout the story.

May is the life of the story.  Wacky but so nice she wouldn't even kill a roach, everyone is friends with May.  But life is not all good for her.  Ever since the suicide of her twin sister April, May often hums 'Oh Susanna' at high speed whenever slightly upset.  But that's not the worst; when May gets upset she starts sobbing and either needs to take a nice hot bath or go out to her Wailing Wall, where she keeps scraps of paper with prayers written on them.  Eventually May can't take the sadness; she commits suicide.  But while she was alive everyone loved her.

At first, June resents Lilly's presence.  But as time goes on, things change for June (mainly after May's suicide).  She apologizes for being rude and marries Neil, her longtime boyfriend.  June is a skilled cellist who plays her cello for dying people, so she is used to sadness.  She has a strong personality but is a nice person.

Rosaleen: she's not afraid to speak her mind (although it sometimes gets her into trouble) and sometimes embarasses Lilly.  But she is Lilly's "stand-in mother" and loving and protective.  It is Rosaleen who springs the events that end with her and Lilly living in a hot pink house.  Also, Rosaleen acheives her ultimate life goal, regestering to vote.

We can't forget Zach, the assistant beekeeper to August and Lilly's boyfriend.  Well, he's not really a boyfriend...his relationship with Lilly is complicated.  They kissed, and like each other, but they want to wait before starting to date.  Zach getting in jail affects the book as well because it may have caused May's suicide, among other things.