When his father left the family, nine-year-old Jared Grace became an angry and troubled boy who gets into fights and neglects his schoolwork. Where his brother and sister have projects they enjoy, Jared has none; he blames himself for being at loose ends, and he credits a lack of intelligence as the cause. In fact, he’s quite smart; all it takes is an eerie mystery and a false accusation to set him on a path of investigation that absorbs him fully.

Jared is the central character of the book—the plot swirls around him and unfolds from his point of view—and though he’s against living in the Spiderwick mansion, he’s also the most enthusiastic about solving the mysteries it contains. The book can be seen as the story of Jared discovering his own great purpose, a calling that sets him on a path away from misbehavior and toward exploration, problem solving, and adventure.

Jared’s identical twin, Simon, is the orderly, respectable brother, though his menagerie of small critters suggests that he, too, has room in his personality for a bit of chaos. As a twin, nine-year-old Simon naturally sympathizes with Jared, and how deeply troubled he’s been since their father left.