Ella Minnow Pea
The novel’s protagonist. Ella is from the island of Nollop, named after Nevin Nollop, who is credited with creating the 35-letter pangram “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” Ella lives in…
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Tassie Purcy
Ella’s cousin and Mittie’s daughter. Ella, who’s from the main city of Nollopton, exchanges letters with Tassie, who lives in the more rural area of Nollopville. When the High Island Council begins banning…
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High Island Council
The governing body on the island of Nollop. The island’s namesake, Nevin Nollop, is revered for coming up with the 35-letter pangram “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” and he is…
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Nevin Nollop
The island of Nollop’s namesake, who is credited with creating the pangram “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” When tiles begin to fall off of Nollop’s commemorative statue in the island’s main…
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Mittie Purcy
Tassie’s mother, Ella’s aunt, and Mittie’s sister. Mittie is a second-grade math teacher and she initially finds it very difficult to adapt to the Council’s ban on using any of the…
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Nate Warren
A young American scholar at the University of Georgia who publishes Nollopiana, an academic journal about the island of Nollop. He is therefore very interested in the violations against citizens’ freedom of speech that…
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Georgeanne Towgate
Timmy’s mother and Nash’s wife. Georgeanne lives in Nollopville (where Tassie and Mittie live) and she is the one who reports Mittie’s first two violations of using banned words. Georgeanne, like the High…
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Rederick Lyttle
One of the five members of the High Island Council, the island of Nollop’s governing body. When lettered tiles begin to fall from the commemorative statue of Nevin Nollop (the island’s namesake), the Council…
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Amos Minnow Pea
Ella’s father and Gwenette’s husband. Amos is a carpenter, and at the outset of the novel, he begins to sell moonshine jugs. Amos quickly gains two violations after the High Island Council begins…
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Gwenette Minnow Pea
Ella’s mother and Amos’s wife. When the High Island Council begins banning the use of any letters on the tiles that fall from Nevin Nollop’s commemorative statue, Gwenette is initially able to…
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Tom
Professor Mannheim’s assistant and a key figure in pursuing Enterprise Thirty-Two. He and the Professor are the only ones remaining from the university to aid in the efforts to come up with a…
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Professor Mannheim
A university professor who lives in Nollopton. He becomes a key figure in pursuing Enterprise Thirty-Two and he is able to come up with a 37-letter pangram. However, when he and his assistant, Tom…
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Rory Cummels
A market owner in Nollopville whose wife and daughters leave him to go to the United States. He then becomes romantically involved with Mittie and he helps with Enterprise Thirty-two. Eventually, however, the Council…
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Agnes
Mittie’s friend who has a difficult time with the Council’s ban on writing or speaking any letters that fall from Nevin Nollop’s statue. Agnes confesses to Mittie that all she can do…
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Tanya
Another woman living in Nollopton whom Ella befriends after all her family members have left Nollop. Ella’s friendship with Tanya illustrates her need to connect with others in order to fight or staunch the oppression…
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Timmy Towgate
A student in Mittie’s second-grade class, and Georgeanne and Nash’s son. Timmy tells his parents about Mittie’s accidental use of the word “dozen” after the High Island Council bans the use of the…
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Nash Towgate
Georgeanne’s husband and Timmy’s father. When Tassie reaches out to the Towgates as to why they reported her mother, Mittie, for using banned letters, Nash writes back harshly. He asserts that they…
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Harton Mangrove
One of the High Island Council’s five members. Harton is shown to be particularly corrupt, as he usurps the estate of a Nollopian whose family has been banished. At the end of the novel…
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Willy Creevy
A young man who lives in Nollopville and who quickly gains two offenses after the Council’s statutes banning the use of different letters begin. Tassie describes Willy as a “riotous, rule-flouting young man,” and…
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Mr. Kleeman
The editor of the Island Tribune, the island of Nollop’s only newspaper. Mr. Kleeman quickly gains two offenses after the High Island Council bans the use of the letter “Z”, and Kleeman decides to…
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Charles Rasmussen
The head of the Rasmussen family, whose members stage a demonstration during a Council meeting by wearing cartoon duck masks and quacking after the letter “Q” is banned. Charles and his entire family are then…
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Minor Characters
Paula Mannheim
Professor Mannheim’s daughter, who becomes an orphan following his death and who stays with Ella for a time because there are no other relatives for her to live with on Nollop. Paula then leaves for the United States with Tanya.
Marigold Shropshire
One of the last remaining people on Nollop, who becomes a foster parent to the many children left behind. After Mannheim dies, Marigold sends Paula to live with Ella because she cannot take care of any more children.
Law Enforcement Brigade (L.E.B.)
The police corps on Nollop that enforces the High Island Council’s increasingly strict statutes. Over the course of the novel, the L.E.B. becomes more and more corrupt and oppressive toward the island’s citizens, ultimately shooting and killing Professor Mannheim for attempting to evade exile.
