MATILDA (MATTIE) COOK
Fourteen-year-old Matilda "Mattie" Cook is the teenage protagonist of a young adult novel. She is the main character.
Matilda's character development works a little bit differently than other young adult protagonists. She's just an ordinary teenager. The situations in she finds herself are very out of the ordinary. Matilda will be coming of age during a crisis situation – the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. It's an extreme scenario, and in order to respond to it, Matilda has to grow up very, very quickly due to her situations and growing up becomes a matter of life and death. Matilda hits a number of stages, each important to her development and growth process.
GRANDFATHER (CAPTAIN WILLIAM FARNSWORTH COOK)
Matilda's Grandfather is a solider, Captain William Farnsworth Cook of the Pennsylvania Fifth Regiment. He served under George Washington. He has a pet parrot named King George that he won in a card game. He and Matilda are extremely close.
Grandfather is a symbol of an earlier time since, as he reminds us over and over, he was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He's a representative of an older generation that passes down their skills, history, and knowledge to the young. Much of what Matilda knows of the world, after all, she has learned from her grandfather. He teaches her the fundamentals of soldiering, which, believe it or not, actually come in handy when stranded in the country. Matilda later uses his knowledge to protect the children in the coffeehouse.
Grandfather's death is the one that hits closest to home for Matilda. By losing someone so dear to her.
LUCILLE COOK
She is basically the antagonist in this novel. She's Mattie's mother but she's also a force that must be reckoned with. Lucille is a single parent, the main authority figure in her daughter's life, and is at odds with Matilda from the very beginning of the novel. When Lucille falls ill, though, Matilda must figure out what to do and how to live without her mother there for her.
Lucille, like Grandfather, is from an older generation, one that lived through the hardships Revolutionary War.
ELIZA
Eliza is free a black woman who works at Matilda's family's coffeehouse. She's one of Matilda's best friends. Eliza lost her husband many years ago, though she is still close with her brother Joseph and his twin sons, Robert and William. Eliza dedicated to serving the Free African Society. Over time Eliza becomes not only Matilda's friend but also she is her equal.
NATHANIEL BENSON
Nathaniel Benson is Mattie's love in the novel. He's a painter and an apprentice to the Peale family and he's apparently got great-looking hair. Mattie's relationship with Nathaniel is only one part of her life. In the end, he's a part of her family.
MATILDA'S FATHER
Matilda's father died when she was young, having fallen off of a ladder two months after the coffeehouse was opened. He was 35 years old.
JOSEPH
Eliza's brother and a cooper (he makes barrels.) He is stricken with the fever, as is his wife. He recovers, but she does not. Joseph is father to Robert and William, his twin sons.
THE LUDINGTON FAMILY
The family in the country that Matilda's mother threatens to send her to. Matilda's mother recovers there herself.
ROBERT AND WILLIAM
The twins Robert and William are Eliza's nephews and Joseph's sons. They lose their mother and contract yellow fever. They survive with the help of Matilda and Eliza.
Fourteen-year-old Matilda "Mattie" Cook is the teenage protagonist of a young adult novel. She is the main character.
Matilda's character development works a little bit differently than other young adult protagonists. She's just an ordinary teenager. The situations in she finds herself are very out of the ordinary. Matilda will be coming of age during a crisis situation – the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. It's an extreme scenario, and in order to respond to it, Matilda has to grow up very, very quickly due to her situations and growing up becomes a matter of life and death. Matilda hits a number of stages, each important to her development and growth process.
GRANDFATHER (CAPTAIN WILLIAM FARNSWORTH COOK)
Matilda's Grandfather is a solider, Captain William Farnsworth Cook of the Pennsylvania Fifth Regiment. He served under George Washington. He has a pet parrot named King George that he won in a card game. He and Matilda are extremely close.
Grandfather is a symbol of an earlier time since, as he reminds us over and over, he was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He's a representative of an older generation that passes down their skills, history, and knowledge to the young. Much of what Matilda knows of the world, after all, she has learned from her grandfather. He teaches her the fundamentals of soldiering, which, believe it or not, actually come in handy when stranded in the country. Matilda later uses his knowledge to protect the children in the coffeehouse.
Grandfather's death is the one that hits closest to home for Matilda. By losing someone so dear to her.
LUCILLE COOK
She is basically the antagonist in this novel. She's Mattie's mother but she's also a force that must be reckoned with. Lucille is a single parent, the main authority figure in her daughter's life, and is at odds with Matilda from the very beginning of the novel. When Lucille falls ill, though, Matilda must figure out what to do and how to live without her mother there for her.
Lucille, like Grandfather, is from an older generation, one that lived through the hardships Revolutionary War.
ELIZA
Eliza is free a black woman who works at Matilda's family's coffeehouse. She's one of Matilda's best friends. Eliza lost her husband many years ago, though she is still close with her brother Joseph and his twin sons, Robert and William. Eliza dedicated to serving the Free African Society. Over time Eliza becomes not only Matilda's friend but also she is her equal.
NATHANIEL BENSON
Nathaniel Benson is Mattie's love in the novel. He's a painter and an apprentice to the Peale family and he's apparently got great-looking hair. Mattie's relationship with Nathaniel is only one part of her life. In the end, he's a part of her family.
MATILDA'S FATHER
Matilda's father died when she was young, having fallen off of a ladder two months after the coffeehouse was opened. He was 35 years old.
JOSEPH
Eliza's brother and a cooper (he makes barrels.) He is stricken with the fever, as is his wife. He recovers, but she does not. Joseph is father to Robert and William, his twin sons.
THE LUDINGTON FAMILY
The family in the country that Matilda's mother threatens to send her to. Matilda's mother recovers there herself.
ROBERT AND WILLIAM
The twins Robert and William are Eliza's nephews and Joseph's sons. They lose their mother and contract yellow fever. They survive with the help of Matilda and Eliza.