The Forgotten Girl Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Iris

An eleven-year-old girl whose stray snowball uncovers a segregated cemetery behind her house. She wants answers for the ghost who won't leave her alone, and she refuses to quit even when the town threatens her family.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Snowball and the Grave; Part 2: What the Town Forgot; Part 3: The Name Behind the Hands; Part 4: Let the Past Stay Buried
Themes:: Segregation's long shadow; The cost of silence; Children against adult cover-ups; Ghosts as unfinished business; History kept by ordinary people

Avery Moore

The gray-skinned ghost of an eleven-year-old Black girl who drowned in 1967 and was buried alone and forgotten. She needs someone to learn the truth: she was pushed, not drowned by accident.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Snowball and the Grave; Part 2: What the Town Forgot; Part 3: The Name Behind the Hands; Part 4: Let the Past Stay Buried
Themes:: Segregation's long shadow; Children against adult cover-ups; Ghosts as unfinished business; History kept by ordinary people

Daniel

Iris's best friend and the first person to believe her about the ghost. He's the one who names the cemetery for what it is and helps dig through archives and yearbooks.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Snowball and the Grave; Part 2: What the Town Forgot; Part 3: The Name Behind the Hands; Part 4: Let the Past Stay Buried
Themes:: Segregation's long shadow; The cost of silence; Children against adult cover-ups; History kept by ordinary people

Grandma

Iris's grandmother, who knew Avery as a girl and was supposed to be swimming with her the day she died. Her silence breaks, and her testimony becomes the bridge between 1967 and now.

Appears in:: Part 2: What the Town Forgot; Part 4: Let the Past Stay Buried
Themes:: The cost of silence

Harold Crandall

Elderly brother of the boy who pushed Avery, from a family whose influence buried the case. Dying and haunted, he finally gives a recorded confession.

Appears in:: Part 3: The Name Behind the Hands; Part 4: Let the Past Stay Buried
Themes:: The cost of silence

Billy Crandall

The high school senior who shoved Avery into the lake because she 'didn't belong.' He died in a car accident in the 1980s, never answering for it in life.

Appears in:: Part 3: The Name Behind the Hands; Part 4: Let the Past Stay Buried

Also in the story

Supporting characters

Ms. Ortiz

A young local-paper journalist whose front-page story turns the town's silence into conversation.

Appears in:: Part 4: Let the Past Stay Buried

How they are connected

Key relationships

Daniel Iris
Iris's best friend and the first person to believe her about the ghost.
Grandma Iris
Iris's grandmother, who knew Avery as a girl and was supposed to be swimming with her the day she died.
Grandma Avery Moore
Iris's grandmother, who knew Avery as a girl and was supposed to be swimming with her the day she died.
Harold Crandall Avery Moore
Elderly brother of the boy who pushed Avery, from a family whose influence buried the case.
Billy Crandall Avery Moore
The high school senior who shoved Avery into the lake because she 'didn't belong.

Go deeper

The Forgotten Girl themes & symbols

Segregation's long shadow · The cost of silence · Children against adult cover-ups · Ghosts as unfinished business

Themes explained

Read the full The Forgotten Girl summary

The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

Open the summary