Nick is the novel’s protagonist. He is a student at the Truman School in Naples, Florida—not a straight-A student, but a dedicated one. He lives with his mother, a corrections officer; his father is an army reservist serving in the Iraq War. Nick loves baseball and fishing, and dreams of seeing an endangered Florida panther in the wild one day. 

Because of his compassionate nature, Nick longs to defend his friend Marta and even the class outcast, Duane Jr., from the bullying of others. He shows a willingness to understand the suffering of others when he “He channels this natural compassion into a courageous defense of wildlife and the environment. The influence of Twilly Spree, a rich, passionate environmentalist, and the environmental activist novels of Edward Abbey teach Nick to stand up for the creatures who cannot stand up for themselves, culminating in the climactic scene where Nick risks his life to save an endangered panther cub. 

Mrs. Starch is a biology teacher at the Truman School. She is demanding, authoritative, and universally feared; local rumors and school folklore suggest that she murdered her husband and practices black magic. Her disappearance on a school field trip to the Everglades is the central mystery that drives the novel’s plot.