Luther T. Farrell

Luther is the protagonist and narrator of Bucking The Sarge. He is only fifteen, in his last year at Whittier Middle School, and his aspiration is to win the school science fair for the third year in a row. He also has a job as caretaker for an adult men’s group home, where he drives clients around in a van and cleans, feeds, and cares for them. For this job, his mother has procured him a fake driver's license saying he is eighteen, which he has had since he was only thirteen. While still a child in many ways—with an unrequited crush, a desire to do well in school, and the dream of becoming America’s best-loved philosopher—Luther is also weighted down with many adult responsibilities, such as helping his mother manage her rental properties and running the care home.

Dewey "Sparky"

Sparky, whose real name is Dewey, is Luther’s best friend. They agree to help each other no matter what: “womb to tomb, from birth to earth.” Sparky’s main desire is to get out of Flint. He has a variety of clever schemes for how to accomplish this, mostly involving attempts to inflict a personal injury on himself and then hire a lawyer from TV known as D.O.G., who promises to “sue ‘em all” and win large sums of money. Sparky is primarily the comic relief character in the book, but he also has some valuable insights, especially when helping Luther to reflect on his own situation.

The Sarge

"The Sarge" is the nickname everyone uses for Luther’s mother. Her management style is modeled after the military, and she is the only one in charge. The Sarge is a ruthless slumlord whose sole concern is making money off of her various businesses. Besides the adult group homes, one of which is managed by Luther, she runs an exorbitant loan service, which she sometimes converts into personal favors. She also owns rental houses, which she maintains at a minimum level and evicts tenants from without notice. There are glimpses of the hopeful young woman she might once have been, and the shrewd businesswoman she certainly is, but for the most part, the Sarge demonstrates herself to be a hard and heartless individual who coerces others into doing her dirty work.

Darnell Dixon

Darnell is the Sarge’s hired thug and employee. He does numerous jobs for her, including forcibly evicting tenants, repainting rental houses at record speed, threatening and physically confronting those who don’t pay their loans on time, and burning down houses to collect insurance money. Darnell is disagreeable to everyone, except the Sarge. He is her right-hand man. Darnell has only one pride and joy: his pure white Buick Rivera car.

Chester X Stockard

Chester X is an old man who is placed in the group home. He is considered a “special client,” as there is potential for the Sarge to collect money after his death, so he shares Luther’s room. Chester reveals himself to be more intelligent than he seems, however, and soon he and Luther become friends. It is Chester’s dream to escape, and he attempts to convince Luther that the best thing for both of them is to run away to Florida.

Shayla Patrick

Shayla is the beautiful girl Luther has a crush on. He has admired her since kindergarten, although his love is unrequited. She simply ignores him, and he can’t stop himself from insulting her whenever possible. Shayla is intelligent and is Luther's main competition at the school science fair. Her project last year was better than Luther’s, and Luther openly acknowledges as much, especially after learning that his mother bribed the judge on his behalf.