Minor Characters in Corinne's Stories

These are minor characters in the Corinne Tan books and movie.

Alex

A friend of David Tan's who survived a bear attack. He lost his left thumb, and has scars up and down his arm.

Bryce

A boy in Corinne's class.

Cassidy

Corinne's best friend. She is illustrated with red hair and blue-green eyes and is taller than Corinne.

She lives with her mother and six-year-old brother Jake (who is allergic to dogs) and is likely lower or working middle-class. Like Corinne, her parents are divorced, but it was many years ago when she was little; she also has a living grandmother.

Cassidy is crafty and can make almost anything with her hands; Corinne thinks her best invention is a Halloween candy dispenser offers either gum, chocolate, or fruity candy. She makes a vest and jacket for Flurry. She also pays attention to finances in a way other kids in their class does not, such as knowing the price of grocery items and the costs of attending college.

Corinne is initially reluctant to inform Cassidy about her rise in status due to her mother marrying Arne, as Cassidy refers to wealthy people living in Aspen as "those people" and dislikes their displays of wealth. She dislikes competitive skaters and thinks girls who take private skating lessons are snobs, in part due to a bad interaction with Emmeline Daniels at the rink, who was rude to her. Corinne used to agree with her perceptions but is starting to feel different now and is nervous to inform her about her family changes and rise in status.

Corinne's secrecy and reluctance to invite her over or meet Arne properly--and her repeated excuses for why Cassidy can't visit her--make Cassidy suspicious, especially as she notices brand new things Corinne has such as a new phone. At Gwynn's competition, Cassidy comes to see the performances and thus learns that Gwynn is being coached privately and skating competitively. She confronts Corinne--she is sitting at the end of the row where Corinne and her father are--about what has gone on and is upset that Corinne has been keeping secrets. Corinne's outburst at Cassidy startles Gwynn and she falls during her jump, leading to an upset Corinne running out of the arena and thus getting lost in the woods.

The day after, Cassidy confronts Corinne again--they are at the townhouse, and she fusses that Corinne (wrongly) thought they might not be friends anymore because of ice skating and her new wealth. She's more upset that Corinne continued to lie to her about it, not the skating or financial rise itself. She also says that Corinne and Gwynn might be changing her mind about professional skaters and wealthy girls.

Emmeline Daniels

A girl at school. Cassidy says she bumped into her at the rink while Emmeline was skating backwards and Emmeline made a huge deal of it, as if it had been on purpose. Corinne recalls that Emmeline had gone flying over Cassidy's skate and fell hard on her backside--implying that it had been Emmeline's fault.

Ellen Desilvis

A rescue dog instructor. Corinne first meets her when she is trying to avoid the boy who was racist to her before; she is training Mojo at the time. She says that Corinne shouldn't be skiing alone and suggests that she come watch her and Mojo train, so as not to be alone on the slopes.

Flurry

Flurry is Corinne's pet dog, whom she is training as a search-and-rescue dog. She is tan on top with a white belly and paws that look like she has been playing in the snow. She has habit such as circling before lying down and banging her water bowl until it flips to indicate it's empty. She is natural searcher and very good at finding people and has a high drive. She quickly bonds with Corinne.

Corinne first sees her at the local shelter after asking to look at dogs so she can train a search-and-rescue dog; she is the last dog in the row, and Corinne thinks she is beautiful. Kurt says she was likely abandoned, as she is used to being around people, and is about six months old. Initially Corinne is only at the shelter to look, but falls in love with her at first sight. Once the family agrees to go to a side room to get to interact with her more, Flurry plays tug-rope with Corinne, thumps her tail when Gwynn pats her tummy, and lets Judy scratch behind her ears. Flurry goes to Arne last, who is the most reluctant, and sits and holds out one paw to "shake;" this prompts him to pet her head, and then he agrees that they will adopt her as a wedding present.

When Corinne runs away from the arena and gets lost in the woods, Flurry is brought out to help--Gwynn's idea--and successfully finds her.

She is in Corinne's collection as Corinne's Dog with Backpack (and Corinne's Dog Plush).

Gary

A ski patroler who helps bring Corinne down from the mountain after she gets lost.

Eileen Gu

Eileen Gu is a skilled professional freeskier. She has a Chinese mother (who raised her as a single parent) and her Chinese name is Gu Ailing.

Corinne sees her practice at the Buttermilk ski resort on the weekend day they spend with their father. He later gifts Corinne and Gwynn a poster signed by her.

Jagged-Hair Boy

A white boy who has jagged bangs that hang over his face like icicles (he is drawn with dark hair). He is older than Corinne enough for her to notice, and she doesn't know him personally at all.

Corinne first sees him with another boy (taller than him) while leaving the ice skating rink after Gwynn's first lesson; he is wearing a blue plaid shirt and they are coming into the arena. He warns his friend not to touch the door barehanded as Corinne has just touched it--he says she has coronavirus, and calls it "kung flu" in a racist way. This upsets Corinne--even more so when Arne doesn't understand and says she might have heard him wrong. When Corinne goes skiing one afternoon, she hears the boy again and spots him; seeing him around upsets her, and she avoids him by going into the nearby woods.

At Gwynn's skating competition, he walks past Corinne with two friends and says "Chinese flu, coming through," making one of the other boys laugh awkwardly. Corinne finally confronts him about his racism and is backed up by the t-shirt seller, forcing one of his friends to elbow him and mouth sorry to her (though the racist boy doesn't apologize). Corinne later wonders if his friend might change his mind about being bigoted.

Jenna

A girl in Corinne's class who likes to ski. When Corinne ducks off to avoid a bigoted boy she has had a bad encounter with previously, she replies to Corinne that they'll catch her on the next run.

Later, she wonders if she is related to a person who owned Hively, Young, and Company as her mother's maiden name was Hively.

Arne Karlsson

Corinne and Gwynn's stepfather. (His name is pronounced "arr-nee".) Arne has light blond hair and often calls himself "Goldilocks" in contrast with the dark-haired Tans.

Arne grew up in Sweden and Swedish is his first language; while he speaks English well, his words sometimes come out choppy. He met Judy when she was catering a party and Judy tells the story that after he tasted her food, he spent the rest of the party in the kitchen with her instead of the other guests--while his side of the story is that Judy kept giving him extra-small portions to have him come back and ask for more.

Arne is rich and works as a businessman, but Corinne does not see him as stuck up. He is generous with his finances, paying for Gwynn to take private skating lessons and connecting his credit card to Corinne's ski pass to cover anything she purchases and trusting her to be reasonable. He offers Corinne private skiing lessons, which she declines; he does later get her a pet dog, Flurry. He wants his stepdaughters to be happy and tries his best to protect them from being upset or angry. He does not want to replace Corinne and Gwynn's father, but does want to make a family with them.

He owns the town house that the Tans move into after he and Judy marry, which has been professionally decorated. This makes him reluctant to dramatic and sudden decor changes such as a bright purple wall in the girls' bedroom; however, he adapts the purple wall with help from his decorator into a full mural. There are new rules at his house, such as leaving shoes in the garage and rinsing dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. He is scared of heights and this means he doesn't ride the gondola up the mountain. He is also initially unsure of Corinne having a dog after having had one as a child, Astro, that would not stop biting and had to be given away; however, once Flurry meets him, he likes her and they adopt her.

Being white--even though he is an immigrant--means that Arne doesn't initially understand the anti-Asian prejudice and racial issues that Corinne, Gwynn, and Judy have to face. He tells Corinne that that "people like that" don't live in Aspen after her encounter with a teen's bigotry and, after the racism at the restaurant, that the racist men probably aren't from around there and that it is nothing to be upset about. This bothers Corinne but she cannot speak up about it; after she is found in the woods, she is able to voice her issues and Arne agrees to stop being dismissive and try to listen when she brings up the racism that happens against her and other Chinese people.

Blix Yong Karlsson

Corinne and Gwynn's younger baby brother. Judy tells Corinne about her pregnancy before the start of the summer while they are in a bookstore, by showing a book titled Your Baby in a Blended Family. He is born at the end of Corinne to the Rescue--a little earlier than his due date--and has grey-green eyes and dark hair.

He is also available as a part of her collection as Corinne's Baby Brother, Blix.

Judy Karlsson

Corinne and Gwynn's mother, Judy.. She is a chef and was a caterer, but opens a Chinese restaurant specializing in street food and takeout named Kuai Le. (The name has two meanings: "happiness" and "soon".) She is fluent in Chinese and English.

She and David Tan divorced two years ago due to stresses in their marriage that exacerbated during the start of the pandemic; Corinne's parents can have a way of speaking angrily at each other that makes her feel terrible and sad, and they used to fight over things such as the type of peanut butter purchased before divorcing. She later met Arne while catering a party and, according to her, tasting her food led to him spending more time in the kitchen than attending the main party.

In contrast to Corinne--who avoids confrontation after racism--Judy is not afraid to confront racists. When the girls are subjected to anti-Asian prejudice--a man implying that Flurry would be cooked due to racist thought about Chinese food and later saying that the restaurant has "the China virus", she openly confronts the two men and says they should say in front of her what they said in front of Gwynn and Corinne. She lectures them for making Gwynn cry, snaps that they love their dog as much as he does, tells them the virus is properly called Covid-19 and ends by saying they are not welcome in her restaurant.

Kelsey

A girl in Corinne's class who likes to ski.

Kurt

The man working at the shelter when Corinne comes to look at dogs.

Mrs. Lomond

Corinne and Cassidy's fifth-grade teacher.

Margot

Gywnn's skating instructor. She got a silver medal at regionals when she was seventeen and likes baking, and hiking. She and Gwynn get along very quickly at their first meeting. She thinks, after the first lesson, that Gwynn should take a chance at competing.

Millie

Corinne's cousin. She mentions that Eileen Gu looks like her.

Mojo

A dog Corinne interacts with when she is hiding in the woods from a boy who was racist. He is a black and white dog with thick fur.

Oscar

A dog at the shelter who, as they approach, is barking furiously. Kurt says they're still working on his behaviors and he shouldn't go to a home with children. Corinne tries to calm him, but this doesn't work, and so they pass over him.

Pippa

Gwynn's best friend.

Po Po and Gong Gong

Corinne and Gwynn's maternal grandparents. They live in New York City. When they learn that Judy is pregnant with a boy, Gong Gong cheers that there is "finally" a boy being born.

Royce

A boy in Corinne's class.

David Tan

Corinne and Gwynn's father. He is a skilled skiier with several trophies, and works as a ski instructor at the Buttermilk ski resort. He has worked there for years, specializing in teaching people who don't speak English as a first language, and speaks Mandarin, Spanish, and English. He taught Corinne to ski and they have memories of her learning. He and Judy divorced two years ago due to stress from the pandemic; he couldn't work when the resorts were closed. He used to live together in the apartment the family moves out of, but he now lives in Basalt. He speaks Chinese to his daughters more than Judy does and often calls them by their Chinese names. He sometimes snores so loud it can be heard through a wall.

Despite Corinne's assumptions that her father is bothered by Arne's presence in their lives, David is overall okay with Judy remarrying and Arne as their stepfather, understanding that Arne is an important part of his daughters' lives. However, he and Judy still have arguments, such as when he didn't know Gwynn was at her best friend's house and came to pick her and Corinne up--saying he could have picked her up there and that he wanted to make the choice rather than Judy making it for him.

Ye-Ye

Corinne and Gwynn's paternal grandfather, who died before they were born. Corinne brings him up when explaining an idea for the symbolism of her and Gwynn's new necklaces.

Zach

A friend of David Tan's who helps Corinne train Flurry.