Devin's Character bio

Devin Gilbert Allred

Novel: The Narrows Escape Time & Setting: Summer 1983

Birth date/place: December 24, 1970; St. Paul, Minnesota

Married: no

Homes: St. Paul, MN (1970-1973); Provo, UT (1973-1975); Farmington, UT (1975-1983)

Hair: reddish, blond Eyes: pale blue Facial: oval

Weight: Height: Build: short, small, physically fit Skin tone: fair

Unique Physical Characteristic: a handful of light freckles sprinkled across his cheeks

General Health: good

Positive traits: courageous, tries to be a leader, likes challenges, adventurous, deceptively athletic, average musical ability, nostalgic, good at fixing things (particularly electronics), ambitious

Negative traits: overly competitive (especially with Shane), short fuse, jealous of Shane, impatient, punishes himself for failures, avoids crying or anything else that makes him look like a kid

Favorites: Color: purple Food: hamburgers Drink: Hawaiian Punch

Music: Beach Boys, Jazz (only because of the basketball team, but never listens to it)

Literature: Hardy Boys, Sports Illustrated Movies: Star Wars, Indiana Jones

Clothing: casual (T-shirt, jeans, shorts, tennis shoes, baseball cap occasionally)

Hobbies/Interests: collects sports cards (especially football and basketball), and Star Wars action figures (but is beginning to think he’s too old for them); likes to watch football and basketball (Jazz, Celtics (Ainge), Broncos, Angels, BYU); hiking and camping; games (Risk, Monopoly, etc.); starting to notice girls; amusements parks; the beach; computers & electronics

Education: Will attend Prospector Jr. High; wants to play on basketball team; 3.0 GPA

Religion: LDS

Financial status: does paper route, mows lawns to earn extra money

Politics: Republican (uninterested)

Father: Arthur career: HS counselor (Northland HS) birthday: 2/18/45 car: blue Dodge truck (doubles for camper)

Mother: Jen career: homemaker (audiologist) birthday: 9/7/47 car: maroon station wagon

Siblings: Shane (6/13/69), Kendal (9/25/74), Olivia & Emily (8/1/79)

Pets: dog (Mr. T – because of black stripe down middle of white head)

Home life: pleasant; shares room with Shane, but both boys want their own room; competitiveness between boys sometimes causes contention

Friends: Trey & Brady (cousins); Kevin (Utah)

Favorite possessions: autographed Steve Young card

Car: no

Greatest accomplishment: helps rescue his brother in Virgin Narrows

Greatest regret: too small to play football, hampers basketball development

Short term goals: wants to be recognized for his own accomplishments

Long term goals: wants to be a pro athlete

Fears: failure

Worst problem: always overshadowed by Shane; loses temper quickly

Secrets: confidential for now

Philosophy: Be a winner

How changing: Has to adjust to new environment (CA), relationship with Shane

Influenced by (Heroes): family and friends – particularly Shane (though he'd never admit it), Trey & Brady, and his Grandpa (named after him); (John Stockton, Karl Malone, Steve Young, Jon Keyworth, Spencer W. Kimball)

What does this character want more than anything and why? Devin wants to be recognized for his own accomplishments (not known as Shane's younger brother).

If you were meeting this character for the first time, what would strike you most about him/her? His competitiveness

Why will the reader care about this character? He is easy to identify with. He has good intentions, but has to overcome obstacles to accomplish them.

Why is this character in the story? He is the protagonist.

Write a diary entry for this character (entry into the novel): Our house was destroyed today by a mudslide. We were barely able to evacuate in time! I helped my mom take our stuff to the school, and took care of Kendal and Emily. Shane went back to help my dad and Olivia, who were stuck inside the house when the mud smashed into it. When they finally got back, some TV reporter heard about it and interviewed Shane on TV. They treated him like some kind of hero even though it was Dad who saved Olivia. Anyways, we're going to have to move. The house is ruined. Hopefully we can move to California near Trey and Brady. I can't wait until the reunion to tell them all about it! For now we have to sleep here at the school on the gym floor. At least they canceled school for the last couple of weeks!