Content Warning: The source text includes anti-fat bias as well as outdated and insensitive terminology to refer to Indigenous Americans, people without permanent homes, and people with disabilities. The text also features the theft of Indigenous artifacts by non-Indigenous people.

Donal, the protagonist and first-person narrator of the novel, is between 11 and 12 years old and has bright red hair and freckles. Large for his age, adults often assume he is older. An only child, Donal is an orphan whose mother and father died in an accident caused by a drunk driver. Gram, his closest surviving relative, takes over his rearing until she must have an operation that will require months of recuperation. Once separated from Gram, Donal’s greatest desire is to return to her and resume their lives together.

Donal is quick-witted and imaginative, making up fanciful but believable stories on the spur of the moment. Raised around ranch hands, Donal guilelessly employs their colorful language. He is a collector of colloquial expressions, especially vulgarities. He also collects autographs and inscriptions of the people he meets in the memory book that he carries with him constantly.

Like several other characters, Donal acquires nicknames through the

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