This is the first of a line of manga coming from Christian RealBuzz studios. You heard me right, Christian Manga. "Manga from Heaven." They got that right.

Characters:

Serenity Harper: "If you're trying to make me feel guilty, forget it!"
Yeah, she's the "new tassel with blue hair, whatever that means. She's a spunky ball of energy, and though she is not the most perfect person in the world, Serentiy is a likeable character. ^-^;; Since she met her new friends, she has been thinking more about God and she questions his existance. By Book 3, she prays occasionally. I think she wants to believe in God but her rebel side is holding her back. Serenity lives with her mom, who apparently doesn't discipline her very well. She acts tough and "doesn't care" around others, but secretly she just wants to be understood, I think. Serenity likes her music, which is probably pretty hard. Her favorite bands seem to be The Angry Dead, The Gerunding, and sqanco. She has dabbled in some not so hot practices, including cussing, sex, stealing, and we know she has messed with either drugs or alchohal, however, it doesn't seem like she has a serious addiction. Serenity has been to jail before. ^-^;; Serenity's childhood wasn't very good, as revealed in book 3. She is a first hand witness to her mother's not so hot practices and morals. However, our little blue haired tassel seems to be on the path to redemption with the help of her new "friends." ^-^;; Serenity now hangs out with the prayer club pretty often. Currently, she has a job at Pizza Puka, which explains her weird outfit on the cover of book 2. ^-^ She has her own stereo and Tv! Not fair!

Derek: "No, 'cuz nothings going to happen she might have something to say about!"
When we first meet the punkin' little Christian with chin fuzz and a pretty purple haired girl hanging off of him, all we see is a seemingly simple, not-too-bright guy who's all chin fuzz and no brain. He's the "little girl's dream man." Ever seen Tokyo Mew Mew? Yeah, like Masaya simple.
But that's just the first impression.
Derek is not to be underestimated.
The man is a very independant person from his girlfriend, Kimberly, and much too mature for the "blue haired tassel" Serenity, who still tries to hit on him after he refused to sleep with her. He seems quiet and collected. He also seems a little misunderstood, since Kimberly seems to see him as her teddy bear and Serenity wants him for a trophy, and we rarely see him conversing with anybody else. He loves God with all of his heart. He seems to love Kimberly genuinely even if their relationship is very rocky. He seemed to have an eye out for Serenity back when we were stupid enough to think he was simple and stupid, however, we haven't really seen that side of him return. Serenity comes to him for homework help often, so we know he doesn't reject her, and once he gave her a ride home. (He was dropping off a little boy at the time as well, and he made it very clear to Serenity that the two would not be in the car alone at any time.) In book two, we also learn that he and a friend stole beer when they were younger, so Derek now actively attends a 12-step plan for teens, kind of an Alchoholics Anonymous. Derek's friend is now dead. We aren't told how he was killed. I think he's a very deep character, and as the story plays on, we'll learn more about him. He is still fighting an alcohal addition.

Sally: "We get more rings that a bath tub."
Sally comes from a big family. She lives with her wheelchaired mom and her dad and at least two younger brothers. Her uncle is a marine drill instructor. She is clever, and known for her awful puns. ^-^;; Sally wears her hair in very different styles. She's really a spunky, funny and cute character, who honestly wants to help Serenity. ^-^ She is often seen with Tim or maybe Lori. Sally's family is pretty strict, but maybe not as strict as Kimberly's family. Her mother seems to be very close to her, and she is very understanding.

Kimberly Calvin: "This isn't Christian, but--If Serenity wants Derek, she's got a WAR!"
The pastors kid. ^-^;; Kimberly seems, however, to be overprotective of Derek, often resulting in arguments between the two. Serenity's crush on Derek doesn't help anything. She once said she hates Serenity, and often overlooks the fact that Serenity finding God is more important than Kimberly's relationship with Derek. She isn't very close to her father, Pastor Calvin, and probably more close to her mother. There is a stark contrast between Kimberly's vibrant purple hair and her brown eyes with her parents, who are both blonde and blue-eyed. This may be a sign that Kimberly is adopted. (Dark hair and dark eyes are dominant traits, so it seems unlikely that her parents would carry these genes.) Whether this is true or not, I dunno. It is purely a guess of mine with no base at all. In the end, Kimberly tries to do what God wants, even if it is something hard like being nice to her arch-enemy. She has her own car!

Tim: "Our door is always open."
A large (but hey, we can't all be Derek) guy who is described on Serenity's official site as an electronic genius. We have yet to see this side of Tim, but he seems to be a nice kind of guy. He also is a good leader in group situations, and is often seen leading the prayer club meetings. Tim knows his Bible well. However, on more social occasions, we don't see him talk a whole lot. (This may be just because the RealBuzz people would rather have an emphasis on good non-platonic relationships, and so give more light to Sally or Lori.) He is most often seen with Sally, Eddie or sometimes Derek.

Lori: "You owe, slacker."
An athletic girl who's hair is always up in a ponytail. She is also a bit tomboyish and tough, and when Serenity needs a good knock on the head, Lori'll give it to her. On the official Serenity website, Lori is described and Serenity's best friend. Serenity hasn't totally warmed up to the Prayer Club by the end of book 2, but maybe we'll see this more in book 3.

Eddie: "She sure isn't winning friends..."
Not much is known about the freckled red-head. He seems to be insightful and a little quiet. Serenity once approaches him in book 2, saying, "Eddie, you're a practical guy... you believe all this mumbo-jumbo?" What he says later in that conversation, "Prayer isn't getting what you want -- it's getting right with God!" we can tell he knows God pretty good. Yay! ^-^ The official site says he is a farm boy plagued by certain temptations. (No, Eddie! Don't be plagued by temptations! I feel the red hair connection! You have to be cool!) He is stopped by one of the school's jocks who is impressed by something bad he has done, according to a purity test Eddie took. (It is a seires of questions like "Ever played footsie?" "Have you kissed a member of the opposite sex?" plus a lot more not so light questions.) Eddie said neither he or God was impressed by it, so whatever these temptations be, it looks like Eddie is dealing with it.

Teachers, Adults, and Parents
Principal Parker: "Miss Harper, my office, IF YOU PLEASE!"
A responsible, overweight woman who has been this close to expelling Serenity since page 4. She is a forgiving character, but she wants the best for her school, and if Serenity is not it...

Mr. Pyle: "There's nothing you can say that Shakespeare hasn't said more peoetically."
An English teacher who who is in love with Shakespeare. He gives Serenity detention when she flips him off for giving her a bad grade. Good reason. Is Mr. Pyle a Christian?

Ms. Baxter: "He musn't impose obsolete patriarchal Judeo-Christian values on young womyn."
A somewhat Anti-Christian post-modern idealist sort of teacher. When Serenity mentions she talked to Ms. Baxter, Kimberly and Lori reply with, "Uh-oh..." I don't think Serenity has any of her classes, if she has classes at all. She is only seen in the hall, often with Principal Parker, except for when she talks to Serenity. At that time they are alone in a room, but whether it's her room or whatever, we don't know. She also gave Serenity condums in case she wants to sleep around and her dude of the moment forgot. Greeeat.

Mrs. Harper(?): "'Church?!' Do I look like an idiot?!"
Serenity's mother. An overweight ex-hippy. We don't know what she does for a living, but we know she has tried certain New Age ideas, which Serenity thinks is a load of crap. Serenity doesn't have a good relationship with her mother at all. If you ask me, I think Mrs. Harper has not disciplined her very well. As the story goes on, it seems she talks with Principal Parker often about what's best for Serenity. Who is Mr. Harper? We don't know. Serenity once said "My parents are divorced and I'm ok!" so we can assume they were married once. Serenity knows how to control her mother (like all teenage children) to some degree. She also has, like Serenity, dabbled in a lot of unattractive practices, which have scarred Serenity's childhood.

Pastor Calvin: "You didn't learn that from us!"
Kimberly's dad. In book 1, we just see a somewhat secular stereotype of a pastor. In book 2, he lets her buy a car. He has trouble forgiving Kimberly after she lets Serenity drive when he told her not to hand the keys off to anybody. And Serenity, of course, crashes the Kimberly's car into a cop car, resulting in lots of fees. ^-^;; Kimberly gets in trouble when he gets angry at her for this and she talks back, resulting in her grounding. They all become happy again when Serenity pays for the damage she did to Kimberly's car. He seems to "wear the pants" in his marriage, and pushes his daughter too hard. (Quite the opposite of Serenity, Kimberly is disciplined too much.) He also seems a little paranoid. When he saw Serenity's mother's purity test in his house he immediately assumed it was Kimberly's and blew up at Derek for it without even talking to Kimberly. (The moment was lighthearted and seemed to exist only for comedy purposes, but I treat it as character expository also.)(Oh, and his first name is Ross. ^-^;;)

Mr. Grandy: "Something wrong?"
To tell the truth, I was pretty upset when I read Pastor Calvin's little speel in book 1. He spoke mostly Christianese, and I could barely understand him, and I'm sure any non-Christian who picked Serenity up couldn't understand him either. And, he wasn't cool. I'm a big believer that adults can understand kids and help us. I was very disappointed that Pastor Calvin looked just like what non-Christian kids think Christian adults are like: boring and stupid. Well, the Serenity people made up for Pastor Calvin by giving us Mr. Grandy. The guy is one of Serenity's teachers and a Christian. Serenity once exploded to him about her whole problem about Kimberly's car, and he pointed her to a solution. He's smart, and he speaks God's word without saying a whole lot. So far, he's only made a couple of short appearances, so we don't know a whole lot about him. And his right hand is a hook! Did I mention that? How did he get that...?

Officer Cherry Topp: "If not, it's Grand Theft Auto."
I think she is the cop at Serenity's school. Young, serious, tough and beautiful, she seems to be one of those faculty members that the bad kids go extra miles to avoid looking at and the good kids run to talk to. I think Serenity is going on her bad list. ^-^;; Uh-oh.

Mrs. Jennifer Calvin: "Well..."
Kimberly's mom. A quiet, seemingly timid woman, she never spoke out against her husband when he yelled at Kimberly. (Even though her body language seemed to show she sided with Kimberly.) She loves her daughter, and tries to reassure Pastor Calvin's love for his daughter to Kimberly, but Kimberly doesn't exactly believe her. When Serenity shows up to talk to Pastor Calvin about Kimberly's car, Jennifer and Kimberly both eavesdrop on their conversation. Does this mean that she doesn't think he would tell her later what Serenity said? If the Serenity people choose to show more of the Calvin's story, I think there would be quite a lot of friction in this family. It also looks like Kimberly pushes her around a bit as well.

Groups around James A. Madison High
The Jocks
This group is made up of a blonde cheerleader with a beauty mark and a black guy who is in sports. The two seem to be going out. The cheerleader seems to be the less levelheaded off the two, but the guy isn't much better of. They don't like Serenity because they have school spirit, while she could care less. They don't harass her, per se, but they will throw the odd mean comment or call her a skank. They are seen with other guys on sports teams. They are a bit critical of the prayer club, but as a whole, they are willing to communicate.
The Ghetto
Kimberly lovingly renders these kids, "The worst group in school." Serenity tried to make friends with this group pretty soon after she arrived at Madison High. This group revolves around a tall girl who dresses a bit scantily for a Christian comic. There are two other guys in the group, a black guy with a band-aid on his face, (?) and a white guy who's mouth is very squiggely and wears his shirt open. This group openly hates the prayer club, and when Derek approaches Serenity while she talks to them, they assume she is a friend of theirs, name her "snitch" and run off. Since then, they have been unwilling to talk to her.

The 12-Step Plan Kids
This is a group of teenagers who are recovering from alcohol or drugs. (A sort of a Christian Alcoholics Anonymous.) Derek is an active member of this group, (see his profile) and Serenity joins at the beginning of Book 2.
June: The leader of the 12-step plan group, she is an alchoholic.
Anita: A somewhat gothic alchoholic and drug abuser. She led the group the day Serenity was there. A friend of Derek's.
Carmen: Another friend of Derek's.
Willy: A young, naiive kid. I guess he's in the group too, 'cause Derek says "I give Willy a ride home after [the 12 step plan] meetings." He looks a little like Derek did in the flashbacks, so he could be around 12, maybe older. (That's how old Derek said he was.) I don't think they're related, after all, Derek introduces Willy just as "Willy," not, "my cousin" or anything, even though they look a bit alike.

Serenity's Schedule:

What is Serenity's schedule? I have a feeling it changes often to suit the needs of the creators, but y'know, what the heck! We'll figure it out later!