Hope Yancey: A 16-year old waitress Addie: Hope's aunt; a short-order cook G.T. Stoop: Diner owner; has leukemia Eddie Braverman: A 19-year old diner cook Eli Millstone: Mayor of Mulhoney Flo: A waitress Lou Ellen: A waitress with a baby daughter Brenda Babcock: Deputy sheriff Yuri: A Russian immigrant; bus-boy at G.T.'s diner Jillian: Hope's best friend Adam Pulver: A friend of Braverman's Sid Vole: Adam's uncle; a spin doctor Deena Yancey: Hope's mother