Donna Parker

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Donna Parker is a 13, 14, and eventually 15-year-old girl living with her family in Summerfield, a small town located two hours from New York City. She is a pretty girl with dark hair and brown eyes.

Donna is an excellent student who excels at English. She regularly receives A's on her report card, serves on class committees, and in Special Agent joins the editorial team of the Summerfield Junior High newspaper, which is called “Sum-it-Up.” She is a popular student with both teachers and peers.

Calm, loyal, and understanding, Donna is prone to worry about events outside of her control. She is quick to help people and is usually polite.

She is responsible but often receives lectures from her mother on various topics, such as eating a healthy breakfast or being more compassionate to others.

Donna also regularly lectures her younger brother on his speech, grammar, and behavior.

Fredricka (Ricky) West is Donna's best friend. Ricky and Donna are quite different but have a close bond. Red-haired and freckled, Ricky is dreamy, romantic, and melodramatic. She is also a good student and has a passion for acting and drama.

Though Ricky and Donna are close, as they grow up, they begin to go their separate ways more often, especially when they clash about how they like to spend their free time in Special Agent and Takes a Giant Step.

Grace Parker is Donna's mother. She was a schoolteacher and is now a full-time homemaker. She is social, patient, and caring. She tends to lecture Donna but also is a good shoulder for Donna to cry on.

She is an excellent cook who enjoys playing cards, reading, and socializing with friends and through her discussion groups. She is a wonderful seamstress and regularly sews Donna beautiful clothes and dresses.

Sam Parker is Donna's father. He is a salesman and has an excellent sense of humor. He likes to tease Donna, especially about boys. He is always very proud of Donna and her achievements.

James (Jimmy) Parker is Donna's younger brother. He is outgoing, playful, and active. He is good at sports and loves baseball, basketball, and football, and he plays noisy "war" games that annoy Donna. He also makes fun of and teases Donna. His best friend is Skipper Gray, who lives next door to the Parkers.

Paul (Richard) White is Donna's friend and almost becomes her boyfriend. They go on dates when he is a counselor at Camp Three Pines and she is a junior counselor at the nearby Camp Cherrydale. They also date during A Spring to Remember. Known by his middle name, Richard, until A Spring to Remember, he decides to revert to his first name, Paul. He is handsome, intelligent, and popular. He is a year older than Donna and leaves school for a short period to pursue full-time work, based on his inaccurate belief that his family is struggling financially because his father is briefly unemployed.

Joyce Davenport is a classmate of Donna's. Initially, she is depicted as arrogant, aloof, and cold. However, after an accident causes Joyce to break her leg and be hospitalized for a while, Donna gets to know her better and finds her a sweet, shy, caring girl. Joyce is highly intelligent and very interested in journalism, due to the fact that her father is the editor of the Summerfield newspaper.

Anne Franklin is a friend of Donna's from school. She is tall, blonde-haired, and has a good sense of humor. She loves animals and plays practical jokes.

Tommy Sheridan is another of Donna's classmates. He is smart, and he has a gift for designing helicopters. His father owns a helicopter factory, and Tommy was the target of spies because of his clever designs in Secret Agent.

Roger Norcross is Grace Parker's long-lost brother. He ran away as a teenager, and the Norcross family heard very little of him for years. He appeared in Special Agent, and he later married Donna's teacher, Miss Fischer, returning to his home in Hollywood. In A Spring to Remember, Roger promises Donna a holiday in California if she gets straight A's on her report card. Donna later visits Roger and his new wife, Adele (formerly Miss Fischer) during the book In Hollywood.

Adele Norcross (formerly Miss Fischer) was a teacher of Donna's from Secret Agent. She is young, friendly, assists with the running of the school newspaper, and organizes the trip to New York for the newspaper staff. Roger Norcross and Adele fall in love and make plans to get married in Secret Agent.

The Stackhouse Family are family friends of the Parkers. They are first introduced in Takes a Giant Step, when the Parker family vacations in Canada. The Stackhouses later move to Summerfield and their son, Jeff, temporarily lives with the Parker family, in order to attend school at the start of the term while his parents arrange their move.

Mr. and Mrs. West are Ricky's parents. Mr. West is formal and old-fashioned. Mrs. West is sweet natured, and she suffered from rheumatic fever in the past. She later passes away during Donna and Ricky's sophomore year in school.

Mr Greer is the principal of Summerfield Junior High.

Marjorie Dengrove is a young teacher from a wealthy family. Sam and Grace Parker arrange for her to stay at the Parker residence when they travel to Europe and India.

George Hart is a classmate of Donna's. He is elected school "Mayor" in Secret Agent. He is considered very handsome, smart, and popular by his classmates.

Amy Alexander is a friend of Donna's from Camp Arawak. Amy is very smart and shy. She does not make friends easily and gets very nervous around boys. She has red hair and freckles, and at first Donna mistakes her for Ricky.

Thornton "Teddy" Bair is a boy who is a counselor at Caribe, a camp for boys located near Arawak. He is charming and handsome, but he's also a gossip with little sense of responsibility.

Jennifer Bruestle lives next door to Mr. and Mrs. Norcross in Hollywood. She and Donna are the same age, and the two become friends. Jennifer desperately wants to be an artist and feels that her parents are not very supportive. Jennifer has a younger brother who is Jimmy's age.

Linda Atkinson is a wealthy girl from Hollywood who is the same age as Donna. Adele Norcross arranges for Linda and Donna to get acquainted during Donna's vacation in California, where Donna visits her Uncle Roger. Linda invites Donna to her mansion and an elaborate party. Donna and Linda are friendly but do not have much in common.

Bruce Maslin is a dashing boy Donna meets on her way to visit her uncle and aunt in Hollywood. He is charming, amusing, and good-looking. However, his lack of responsibility gets Donna into trouble on a few occasions during In Hollywood.

Mike Langley is a studious friend of Linda Atkinson. He is introduced during Donna's visit to California during "In Hollywood". He is very intelligent and hard-working. Donna enjoys his company, finding him reliable and interesting, if not particularly fun.

Ellie Townshead is Bunny Knight's cousin. She is a bridesmaid with Donna in A Spring to Remember. Donna and Ellie do not get along particularly well, especially after Donna overhears Ellie making fun of her with one of the groomsmen. However, during In Hollywood, Donna and Ellie get along better and make arrangements to catch up in California. Ellie is an aspiring ballerina, who is very pretty and delicate.