Troy

TROY:

Age at the time of the novel: 12

Place in the family: 3rd oldest, 2 yrs behind Pat, 2 yrs ahead of Melissa

Before the novel starts: Troy was cast as Lou in Up the Down Staircase- the joint production that the Drama depts of their school (E.B. White Intermediate)and the high school (Sebastian HS) got up when E.B. White's director got sick.

1. Improv groups: are the groups the cast breaks up into for acting exercises and running through lines. Troy begins to think his was designed to be his own personal hell. He's got to deal with Leaha, who's into Brian, then mad at both brothers, and also David and Kathy, who are very chummy, which is annoying because he's supposed to be Yolanda's boyfriend. Everyone seems to want to talk about his brother all the time, and Troy is in the weird position of being forced to defend him.

2. Jeff Kealy: Stage Manager for UTDS. He has the role of the being (director) Mr. Rome's right hand man, and thus was too busy for a buddy. Casting the 7th graders was his idea, so he has to make friends with them all and make sure their inclusion doesn't piss off the kid-phobic Mr. Rome. He takes a liking to Troy, lets him run errands, gives him a nickname, T-roy, and lets him in on some behind-the-scenes things.

3. Dale Rome: Director of UTDS. He got more than he bargained for when he got into this joint production thing, but is weathering it with dry humor. The 7th graders think he has totally ignored their presence throughout the production, but as they get more into their parts they discover Mr. Rome's casting was dead-on for the most part.

4. Leaha Simpson: House Manager for UTDS and Troy's official cast buddy. Leaha's nice enough, but she and Troy have two strikes against them, Leaha's admiration for Brian and Troy's admiration for Jeff. She's always bugging him about meeting Brian, which finally leads to an embarrassing situation, plus she has some hazy dating past with Jeff, which puts "T-roy" in an awkward position. Their mentoring experience is an uneasy lesson in interpersonal relations.

5. David Sumner: Troy's best friend since elementary school, who begins to act "weird" when Troy lands the part that David wanted.

6. Kathy Templeman: a fellow 7th grader. She starts off our story with a big crush on Troy, but seems to switch her allegiance mid-way through the production. Troy and Yolanda have known her for years, but never really hit it off with her. Somehow though, she ends up in the middle of their social lives.

The Family Page