Character Biographies

Sophie:

Sophie is an adventurous thirteen year old girl who loves the ocean.  Her dad calls her Three Sided Sophie because she has three different personalities. Her first one is the dreamy and romantic side.  We see this one all throughout the book, for example when she sees the whales.  When Sophie sees the whales she has many questions about where they came from, where they want to go, if they’re related, and what their goals are.  She dreams about being free like them in the ocean. Her other personality is logical and down-to-earth.  Her dad says she gets this from him.  When we see Sophie being most logical is when she is sailing the boat.  She makes split decisions very fast.  She loves to compete with her cousins and prove her uncles wrong about how capable she is.  Her third side is hard headed and impulsive.  Many times we see Sophie act on impulse like when she and Cody sailed back to the bout without mapping out the currents.  Sophie doesn’t like to reveal much information about herself, making her a somewhat stubborn main character.  Throughout the book, she discovers herself through internal struggles and we get to know why she acts the way she does. She begins to tell things indirectly to Cody, dropping hints here and there.  Sophie’s fear for the sea is eventually apparent, through her dreams and stories of Bompie’s childhood.

Cody:

Cody is Sophie’s cousin and best friend on the trip.  He and Sophie get to know each other the best out of all the people on board.  Cody is not very serious about surfing and always jokes about serious matters.  Most of the time it’s pretty funny, but the whole family gets annoyed that he isn’t taking the trip as serious as he should.  He jokes around too much.  Cody enjoys annoying his dad by giving things names that aren’t actually their names.  Cody is the one character that can break down Sophie.  He does it slowly so that he doesn’t ruin their friendship but gets just enough information to lull his curiosity.

Brian:

Brian is Cody’s older brother and seems to be rather pessimistic about everything.  He makes lists all day long about what needs to be done.  He is very driven, with a one track mind.  Brian is not willing to let things to go differently than he planned.  This separates him from Cody and Sophie, while his age separates him from the adults.  This makes Brian one of the most lonely characters.

 

Uncle Mo:

Uncle Mo is Sophie’s uncle who is aboard the ship with her.  He works as a data processor but would secretly like to be an artist. He paints all of the pretty sights that are seen while aboard The Wanderer. His real name is Moses.

Uncle Dock:

Uncle Dock is a mysterious character because halfway through the book we learn about this love affair that he had when he was younger.  Dock used to love this girl named Rosalie, but she married another man.  In the beginning of the book, the ship makes stops at multiple cities along the coastline.  The kids think these stops are to make repairs and what not but they’re really so that Dock can look for his long lost Rosalie.  Dock’s real name is Jonah, but he believes that name is bad luck because of the “Jonah in the Whale” tale.

Uncle Stew:

Uncle Stew is the father of Brian and Cody.  He and Cody do not have the best relationship and often fight about how Cody isn’t serious enough.  Cody continues to joke around once his dad gets annoyed.  Uncle Stew got his name because he stews a lot when he is mad.

Bompie:

Bompie is the grandfather of Cody, Sophie, and Brian.  They are going to see him at their final destination.