Josef Landau
One of the three protagonists of the book, alongside Isabel and Mahmoud. Josef is 12 years old at the beginning of the book, living in Nazi Germany in 1938, where Jewish people like Josef…
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Isabel Fernandez
One of the three protagonists of the book, alongside Josef and Mahmoud. Isabel is 11 years old in 1994, growing up in Havana, Cuba, under Fidel Castro’s regime. Isabel is deeply tied to her…
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Mahmoud Bishara
One of the three protagonists of the book, alongside Josef and Isabel. Mahmoud is 13 years old in 2015, and lives in Aleppo, Syria with his father Youssef, his mother Fatima, his…
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Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg
Josef’s younger sister, who is six years old when they board the St. Louis to escape Nazi Germany. Throughout Ruthie’s experiences on the St. Louis, she is able to retain her innocence largely…
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Lito/Mariano Padron
Isabel’s grandfather and Teresa’s father. (“Lito” is short for abuelito, meaning “grandfather.”) Lito is skeptical of leaving Cuba, but Isabel convinces him to join the rest of the family on the boat…
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Aaron Landau
Josef and Ruthie’s father, and Rachel’s husband. At the beginning of the book, Aaron is taken away to the Dachau concentration camp on Kristallnacht. Aaron is released six months later on the…
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Geraldo Fernandez
Isabel’s father and Teresa’s husband. Prior to the beginning of the novel, Geraldo tried several times to escape Cuba and take a boat to Miami. But when he was caught, he was jailed…
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Rachel Landau
Josef and Ruthie’s mother, and Aaron’s wife. After Aaron is taken away to the Dachau concentration camp following Kristallnacht, Rachel becomes the primary caretaker in the family. But when they meet up…
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Teresa Fernandez
Isabel’s mother, Geraldo’s wife, and Lito’s daughter. At the beginning of the story, Teresa is eight and a half months pregnant with Isabel’s little brother. Still, she is adamant about joining her…
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Iván Castillo
Isabel’s best friend. Iván is the son of Señor Castillo and Señora Castillo, and is Luis’s younger brother. Iván and his father are the ones who build the boat to go to…
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Fatima Bishara
Mahmoud, Waleed, and Hana’s mother. Fatima, like her husband Youssef, tries to keep her children’s spirits up and care for Hana as they take their long journey from Syria to Germany…
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Youssef Bishara
Mahmoud, Waleed, and Hana’s father, and Fatima’s husband. Youssef is characterized as a caring father and husband, trying to shepherd his family to safety in Germany. He is constantly making jokes…
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Hana Bishara
Mahmoud’s infant sister. When Mahmoud and his family are thrown into the Mediterranean sea on their way to Greece by a storm, Mahmoud makes a quick decision and offers Hana to another passing boat…
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Captain Schroeder
The captain of the St. Louis. In contrast with Otto Schiendick, Captain Schroeder recognizes the humanity of the Jewish passengers on board his ship and understands his responsibility to shepherd them to safety…
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Otto Schiendick
The Nazi Party official on board the St. Louis. In contrast to Captain Schroeder, Schiendick views the Jewish passengers as subhuman, even calling the Jewish children “rats” when they take a tour of…
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Samih Nasseer
A Palestinian taxi driver who gives Mahmoud and his family help in Turkey by offering to let them spend the night in his car dealership office while they wait for a boat to Greece. Nasseer…
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Fidel Castro
The president and prime minister of Cuba during the period of Isabel’s story. Castro institutes a policy during his tenure that anyone who attempts to leave Cuba and is caught will be thrown into…
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Waleed Bishara
Mahmoud’s 10-year-old brother. Mahmoud observes that Waleed is largely unfazed by most of the events of their journey, which worries him. Like Mahmoud, Waleed has grown up in traumatic war conditions and as a…
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Guillermo
Isabel’s great-uncle and Lito’s brother. Guillermo had left Cuba in the 1970s and resettled in the United States. When Isabel arrives in Miami, Guillermo underscores the idea that family will enable Isabel to…
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Lita
Isabel’s grandmother. (“Lita” is short for abuelita, meaning “grandmother.”) Lita dies two years prior to the beginning of Isabel’s story. Isabel had been staying with her and Lito when an enormous cyclone hit…
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Señor Castillo
One of the other refugees on the boat with Isabel and her family. Señora Castillo is Iván and Luis’s father, and Señora Castillo’s husband. When the Fernandezes and Castillos face a storm on…
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Renata Aber
Evelyne Aber’s older sister. Evelyne and Renata are the real names of two sisters who traveled aboard the St. Louis, and were the only two allowed to disembark in Cuba because their father…
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Evelyne Aber
Renata Aber’s younger sister. Evelyne and Renata are the real names of two sisters who traveled aboard the St. Louis, and were the only two allowed to disembark in Cuba because their father…
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Minor Characters
Herr Meier
Josef’s teacher in Germany. Herr Meier dehumanizes Josef by calling him up in front of the class and comparing his face to diagrams of other Jewish people, teaching the students how to identify Jews. Josef is humiliated by this exercise, feeling like a “subhuman” animal.
Bashar al-Assad
The leader of Syria during the period of Mahmoud’s story, who made people who criticized his government “disappear.” In response to this oppression, riots started in Damascus before spreading throughout the country and blossoming into the Syrian Civil War.
Pozner
One of the passengers on the St. Louis. After the St. Louis is turned away from both Cuba and the United States, Pozner enlists Josef and a few other passengers’ help in order to try to take the ship hostage and run it aground on the U.S. coast.
Señora Castillo
One of the other refugees on the boat with Isabel and her family. Señora Castillo is Iván and Luis’s mother, and Señor Castillo’s wife.
Luis Castillo
Iván’s older brother. He and his girlfriend, Amara, desert the police force in Cuba and join Isabel on the boat to Miami.
Amara
Luis’s girlfriend. Amara joins Isabel and the other refugees on the boat to Miami after she and Luis desert the police force in Cuba.
Saul Rosenberg
Ruthie’s husband; a fellow Holocaust survivor. Saul and Ruthie serve as Mahmoud, Youssef, Fatima, and Waleed’s host family in Germany.
