Doll Bones

Poppy Bell is a deuteragonist, or a character of second-most significance after the main character, and the close friend of Zach and Alice. She’s described as “tiny and fierce” with thick freckles and red hair (7). Poppy has several siblings, including her brothers Tom and Nate, who tease Poppy and her friends for playing with action figures. Poppy’s siblings often get into trouble because of their neglectful parents’ lack of rules. Poppy plays the villains in her role-playing games, which provides her with a healthy emotional outlet for dealing with the lack of structure in her life.

Zach and Alice envy Poppy’s freedom. However, Poppy’s freedom doesn’t make her happy; rather, it has engendered deep abandonment issues. To deal with the lack of structure in her life, Poppy feels like she needs to exert control. She “like[s] nothing better than being in charge of the story” when the trio play their games and has a hard time incorporating anything that the other two invent (7).

Though it annoys Zach and Alice, Poppy habitually improvises, “creating something new and interesting and a little scary” (22). Lacking restriction, Poppy has become impulsive and self-reliant. Her parents’ abandonment and siblings’ neglect make Poppy hypersensitive “when she [isn’t] part of a conversation” (14). She hates when her friends keep secrets from her, and trauma and insecurity cause her to lash out.

Poppy is a round character in that she changes during the novel. She begins to let Zach and Alice take the lead on portions of the quest. She also accepts the shift in the trio’s dynamic and their approach to “playing” at the end of the novel.

Alice is the other deuteragonist and close friend of Zach and Poppy. Black describes her as having bronze skin, glossy box braids, amber eyes, and an “angular face and thin eyebrows” (100). Alice has grown curves over the past year, and boys look at her differently. She’s begun viewing Zach differently as well. Her crush on Zach makes her feel resentful and jealous when he and Poppy spend time together without her.

Alice enjoys playing Lady Jaye, who is loud and wild and the exact opposite of Alice, “who chafe[s] under the thumb of her overprotective grandmother, but [does] it quietly” (6). Old Lady Magnaye must know where Alice is at all times, picks out Alice’s clothes, complains about her braids, and doesn’t want Alice in the school play even though she got a part. At the beginning of the novel, Alice is exhausted by her grandmother’s rules and lives her life scared of the consequences of defying her. Alice finds escapism in stories, where she’s able to rebel—such as when thieving through Lady Jaye—without fearing censure from her grandmother.

Both of Alice’s parents are dead. As a result, Eleanor’s quest affects Alice more than her friends. Alice struggles with accepting that ghosts are real; if they are, she must also accept that her parents might have had the choice to visit her but never did. These feelings cause Alice to deny the authenticity of the quest at every turn and treat her friends with hostility.

Alice’s character is round and dynamic. By the end of the novel, Alice has embraced the quest and fear of her grandmother’s consequences.