Candyfloss (novel)

Characters

• Flora "Floss" Barnes – A generally happy and bubbly girl who sometimes struggles to stand up for herself. She makes the life changing choice to remain with her father Charlie when her mother Sally, stepfather Steve, and half-brother Tiger (Tim) go to Australia. She falls out with her best friend Rhiannon but later becomes friends with Susan. She is small with masses of blonde curly hair which she dyes purple. She has a strong love for cats, and keeps a cat which she finds in her dad's back garden and calls it Lucky.

• Charlie Barnes – Floss's father, Sally's ex-husband. He runs a little local café but is massively in debt and loses it midway through the book. He ends up running a chip van until it gets burnt down. He is plump with dark hair. Despite being a little absent minded sometimes, he cares deeply for Floss and only wants what's best for her. He saves her life when the chip van gets burnt down. He ends up starting a romantic relationship with Rose from the funfair.

• Sally (Sal) Westwood – Floss and Tiger's mother, Charlie's ex-wife. She is a pretty woman who after divorcing Charlie, got remarried to Steve and had a son with him named Tim (who is known as Tiger). She tries to act posh. She still gets on with Charlie though she is always mocking his way of being. She announces to Floss on her birthday that the whole family is moving to Australia for Steve's new job and is heartbroken when Floss remains with Charlie. Floss gets defensive when anyone says Sally walked out on her. Although Floss stays with her father, she misses her mother terribly.

• Steve Westwood – Sally's husband, Tiger's father and Floss's stepfather. He gets a job offer in Australia in the beginning of the book, where him and the family get to stay there for 6 months while he works. Floss decides to stay with her father. It is implied that Charlie is jealous of Steve.

• Tim (Tiger) Westwood – Floss's half-brother, the son of Steve and Sally. His real name is Tim, but Floss calls him Tiger because of his tiger-like personality.

• Susan Potts – The new girl in Floss's class who is extremely clever. She was nicknamed 'Swotty Potty' by Judy and Margot. She wants to be Floss's friend but is scared of Rhiannon. Once Floss breaks friends with Rhiannon though, Susan and Floss become best friends. They both enjoy art, books and being creative. Susan has short brown hair, glasses and a massive obsession with numbers.

• Rhiannon – Floss's former best friend. She is very pretty with straight black hair and a slim figure. She is also rich and enjoys flaunting her wealth. She can be very rude along with Margot and Judy who bully Susan and Floss after the two fall out. She lies to people that Floss's mother has walked out on her when she hasn't.

• Margot – Rhiannon's best friend. Along with Judy and Rhiannon she bullies Floss and calls her smelly chip. Margot is described by having "such a flat tummy" according to Rhiannon and she likes to speak in a fake American accent.

• Judy – Margot's best friend at the start of the book before she becomes best friends with Rhiannon. Not much is said about Judy. She has black hair in pigtails. Judy also bullies Floss with Margot and Rhiannon. They eventually leave Judy out and Judy just trails along

• Mrs Horsefield – Floss and Susan's kindly teacher, who does her best to support Floss and her father throughout the book. She eventually admits that Floss and Susan are her favourite pupils.

• Rose – The woman who runs the candyfloss stall at the funfair that Floss and Charlie go to at the start. She is very compassionate and helps Floss and Charlie when they get in a fight. At the end of the book she returns to thank Charlie for saving her son Saul during the fight and fire at the chip van. She develops romantic feelings for Charlie as well at the end and is in favour of Charlie and Floss joining up with the fair in the summer. She is pretty with blonde hair and wears much red and pink clothing. She says she is much older than Charlie.

• Saul – Rose's son. He also has a girlfriend called Jenny. Charlie saved him from a fight outside of the chip van.

• Mrs Van Dyke – Deputy Head of Floss's school, the scariest strictest teacher in the whole school.

• Billy the Chip – A regular at Charlie's cafe. He has his own chip van, but says no one can beat Charlie's chip butties. He often bets on horses. Towards the end of the book, Charlie loses the cafe, and Billy lets Charlie and Floss move into his house and look after his cats while he is away visiting his son in Australia and also asks if Charlie could help at his chip van, which Charlie agrees to do. Billy's house is ancient, and contains very old items.

• Mr Potts – Susan's father. He is only mentioned once in the book, when he drops Susan round at Charlie's house for a playdate with Floss. Not much is said about him, but Floss remarks that he looks much older than her father.

• Rhiannon's mother – Rhiannon's mother. She raises concern about Floss and Charlie's living situation, and thinks Charlie is not looking after Floss properly. She often gives Charlie advice, and once made Rhiannon have a day out with Floss, meaning that Floss had to cancel her playdate with Susan. She and Rhiannon are very rich.

Reception