The Town That Drowned
Ruby is the main character of this novel and the story is told entirely from her point of view. She is a 14‑year-old girl. Near the beginning of the book she has a vision of some of the townspeople swimming around her and one person happens to be someone she had never seen before. Ruby gets bullied at school (mainly by June Crouse) as a result of this incident. To make things worse, she has a unique brother who is seen as a freak by others. She receives suspicion after the townspeople learn that her house would be saved from being flooded (Later on, it is revealed that Ruby had to move anyway since the water went further than expected). Her best friend and cousin is Sarah Carson who was always there for Ruby. However, in that year, Sarah moved to another town and leaving Ruby to face her troubles on her own. Later on in the story Ruby falls in love with Troy Rutherford, who happens to be her first love.
Ruby Buckton
Charlie later struggles to deal with Ruby's relationship with Casey. Discussing Charlie's motives, Anderson stated: "Ruby's at that age where she is quite impressionable, and Charlie doesn't want to see her getting hurt. She's only very recently been in a relationship with Romeo, and Charlie is concerned about her moving from one guy to the next too quickly." Casey's brother Darryl Braxton (Steve Peacocke) tries to advise Ruby through her troubles. Although she was not prepared to listen, Darryl gave her a new understanding, a development that is said to "surprise" Ruby. Questioned about Ruby's situation Anderson opined: "He offers the first bit of good advice that she's heard in relation to parenting so, as much as she doesn't want to admit it, he does get through."