Youth in Revolt

The book's main protagonist is Nicholas "Nick" Twisp, a 14-year-old boy of above-average intelligence from Oakland, California. Nick's life continues like a normal teenager's with his best friend Leroy, a.k.a. Lefty, and his divorced parents George and Estelle. His mother is dating a truck driver named Jerry, who sells a group of sailors a Chevy Nova that dies soon after the sailors get it. In response, the sailors go for revenge. After outsmarting them, Jerry strategically decides to take a vacation, so they all go to a religious mobile home camp in the resort town of Clearlake.

It is there that Nick meets Sheridan "Sheeni" Saunders and his life is turned completely upside down. Through plots to get Sheeni closer to him he ends up with several crimes on his hands (including arson, grand theft auto, and foul play) and is forced to run from the police. Nick tricks everyone into thinking he went to India, thereby escaping the police. Nick hides out with his sister Joanie and returns with help from his friend in Ukiah, Frank "Fuzzy" DeFalco. He dresses in Fuzzy's late grandmother's clothes, adopting the name Carlotta and a conservative disposition. As Nick does so, he befriends Sheeni and several other people who Nick knew before. While spending the night with Sheeni on Christmas Eve, she reveals to him that she knew from the beginning it was him, not Carlotta. Nick then gets "the best Christmas present a youth could receive," starting a secret relationship with Sheeni.

Nick inherits a fortune when an elderly neighbor of Joanie takes a liking to him and decides to put him in her will. When Joanie's neighbor died, Nick is briefly left half a million dollars richer, until his mother's boyfriend, a somewhat corrupt police officer, seizes the money. Faced with homelessness from the loss of the house he had been squatting in, Nick becomes rich beyond belief when an idea of his, a wart watch, makes it big.

• Nicholas "Nick" Twisp – The 14-year-old protagonist. The novel is told through his journal entries. Nick is a cynical teen who pines for Sheeni Saunders. He creates, throughout the story, two alter egos: François and Carlotta. Francois is the "bad side" and Carlotta is the relatively "feminine side". He considers himself a misunderstood intellectual.
• François Dillinger – Nick's French "bad-boy" persona. He is named from Sheeni's prediction that her French future husband will have that name. He is often referred to as a separate character, "conversing" with Nick.
• Carlotta Ulansky – Nick's feminine side, who got the last name from an elderly woman he met at his sister Joanie's apartment building. She passes as the old woman's daughter. Nick dresses in Fuzzy's late grandmother's clothes, and attends public school. This of course causes problems in the gym, so Carlotta claims to have a congenital bone dysfunction preventing her from engaging in strenuous activity.
• Sheridan "Sheeni" Saunders – A 14-year-old girl who is the object of Nick's desire. She is very scholarly and verbose, and is shown to be very liberal-minded. This puts her somewhat at odds with her parents. She often remains somewhat aloof to Nick, and it is implied that she still truly loves her original boyfriend, Trent.
• Estelle Twisp – Nick's neurotic mother, an employee of the DMV. She is a heavy smoker who becomes pregnant with Jerry's child midway through the first book, preventing Nick from relocating to Ukiah. This prompts him to "burn down half of Berkeley" in order to force her to send him away.
• George Twisp – Nick's alcoholic father, a failed writer who dates hot young women and neglects his child support duties.
• Joanie Twisp – Nick's crudely rebellious 18-year-old sister who lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend Dr. Philip Dimby (whom Nick deliberately misaddresses ad "Dr. Dinghy")
• Jerry – Estelle's trucker boyfriend who is at odds with Nick on many topics, and is the father of Noel Twisp. He dies halfway through the first book from a heart attack.
• Lance Wescott – A sadistic police officer who falls in love with Nick's mother. Nick and Lance quickly develop a hatred of each other, and it is just as well that Nick is sent to Ukiah, because Lance ends up marrying Estelle.
• Mr. Elwyn Saunders – Sheeni's strict lawyer father. He is quick to anger and is not fond of Nick, but approves Trent.
• Mrs. Saunders – Sheeni's religious mother, who also is not fond of Nick, but like her husband, accepts Trent. She is extremely old, and is often referred to as "Sheeni's 5,000-year old mother" by Nick.
• Trent Preston – Nick's nemesis, former boyfriend/current friend of Sheeni (with whom she is still in love)
• Lacey – George's dim-witted 19-year-old girlfriend who works as a stylist.
• Paul Saunders – Sheeni's psychedelic older brother, who speaks in riddles, but is alone able to see through all of Nick's machinations. He has designs on Lacey.
• Frank "Fuzzy" DeFalco – Nick's friend in Ukiah. His father owns a concrete company and is having an affair with a female employee. His mother, in retaliation, has a brief affair with George Twisp. His nickname comes from his extremely hairy body, and his clothes are described as "floating a few inches off his body"
• Vijay Joshi – Nick's friend, and later rival, in Ukiah. He is from India and is a Republican (he later claims to be a Democrat in an effort to woo Sheeni).
• Apurva Joshi – Vijay's 16-year-old sister, who in Nick's eyes, is second to only Sheeni in beauty.
• Noel Wescott, later Jake Twisp – Nick's younger brother. He is originally thought to be the son of the late Jerry, but it is later revealed that he's the product of a one-night stand between Nick's parents. He is born within the original trilogy, and the fifth book, Revoltingly Young, is told from his perspective.
• Scott Twisp – The eventual son of Nick Twisp, who stars in Son of Youth in Revolt, set thirty years after the beginning of the series.
• Nick Twisp II – The son of Nick Twisp from a one-night stand during the elder Nick's time as a famous juggler in Las Vegas. Nick II makes himself known to his father for the first time in Revolt at the Beach, and follow-up novels Licensed to Revolt and Revolting Obsessions are told from his perspective.