The main characters of Moon Over Manifest are well-drawn, interesting and idiosyncratic. Combined with the book's many colorful minor characters, they people a fictional universe that is rich and believable.
1918 Manifest Main Characters
- Shady Howard: saloon owner and bootlegger in Manifest, Kansas; takes in young Jinx when he appears in town
- Jinx: orphan, wanderer and con artist who happens upon Manifest while on the run
- Ned Gillen: adopted by Hadley Gillen after arriving in Manifest on an orphan train as a young child, he becomes a high school track star and a soldier in World War I
- Hattie Mae Harper: recent high school graduate and lively columnist for the Manifest Herald
- The Hungarian Woman: fortune-telling owner of Miss Sadie's Divining Parlor
- Sister Redempta: nun who teaches at Manifest's Catholic elementary school
- Velma T. Harkrader: Manifest High chemistry teacher and concocter of home remedies
- Eudora Larkin: prim and proper snob and busybody, and president of the local Daughters of the American Revolution
- Pearl Ann Larkin: daughter of Eudora and the object of Ned's affections
- Mr. Underhill: town undertaker
- Arthur Devlin: mine owner and employer of many of the immigrants who have made their home in Manifest
- Lester Burton: pit boss
- Finn: Jinx's cruel and murderous con artist uncle
1936 Manifest Main Characters
- Abilene Tucker: spunky, inquisitive, motherless twelve-year-old girl whose father sends her to Manifest while he works on the railroad in Iowa; she attempts to learn more about his childhood as she tries to untangle a mystery from the town's past.
- Gideon Tucker: Abilene's father, who rides the rails and works odd jobs when he finds them; Abilene is worried that he might not be coming to retrieve her at summer's end
- Lettie and Ruthanne: mischievous Manifest cousins who befriend Abilene
- Shady Howard: part-time pastor and still a bootlegger, he takes in Abilene after Gideon contacts him
- Hattie Mae Macke: still writing her column for the Herald
- Miss Sadie: still a diviner, she tells Abilene stories about the town while Abilene does chores for her
- Sister Redempta: still teaching at the elementary school, she also continues her corporal works of mercy around the town
- Velma T. Harkrader: still teaching chemistry at the high school
- Mr. Underhill: still the town undertaker and a candidate to be the mysterious "Rattler" whom Abilene and her friends are seeking