Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 16:50:42 EDT From: Bwstories8@aol.com Subject: The Castaway Hotel - book 4-Background... TCH BACKGROUND INFORMATION Seeing The Castaway Hotel has grown into a complex, multi-book series, I thought that I should add this to help you keep track of the characters. I will list the boys in the order they came into the story, give some vital statistics about them (as of the beginning of book 4), and a brief summary about how they came to be. I will also list other characters, who have also been included in the story, at the end. I hope this helps you follow the story better. Josh Currie - A 50 year old widower (47 at the beginning of book 1) with four grown children, who decides to take in foster boys, to help make their lives better. Ricky (Richard Allen Glover Currie) - 15 yo sophomore - 5' 7" tall, longish blond hair and gray eyes, cut, and currently dating a girl, though he doesn't mind a little fun with his brothers. Ricky came to Josh as a 7th grade hyperactive, behavioral problem, whose drug addicted mother had died, his father was unknown, and he had no other family. Danny (Daniel Edward Roma Currie) - 16 yo junior - 6' 1" tall, brown hair and brown eyes. cut, athletic build, and currently dating his best friend Brandon. Danny was Josh's second son, he was 13 at the time and kicked out of his home by his parents (mostly his father) when they discovered he was gay. Jay - Ricky's best friend - 15 yo sophomore - Jay is 5' 10" tall, has red hair and green eyes and is uncut. He was lanky (ungraceful and thin) when younger, but is filling out and his coordination is catching up to him as he has gotten older. Jay is also dating a girl. Brandon (Brandon O'Hara) - 16 yo junior - Danny's best friend and boyfriend - 6' 2" tall, blond hair, brown eyes, and cut. Slender, but not thin. He came to live with the Curries so he could finish school where he was, as his father took a new job in Texas. Dustin (Dustin Mathew Kowalski Currie) - 17 yo senior - 6' 0" tall, black hair, green eyes, and cut. Solid build, but not fat. Dustin was thrown out of previous foster home because he was caught in a homosexual act with foster parents' son. He is bisexual, once being with Kevin, but now he's dating girls. Kevin (Kevin Michael Baxter Currie) - 16 yo junior - 5' 10 1/2" tall, longish brown hair, blue eyes, and uncut. Slender, swimmer's build. Kevin was the son of the foster parents Dustin was fooling around with. Father beat him up after he threw Dustin out and Kevin ran away. He was heartbroken when Dustin decided to date girls, but he's with Nick now. Cole (Cole David Van Cott Currie) - 15 yo freshman - 5' 6 1/2" tall, blond hair, brown eyes and cut. Cole and his brother, Graham, were found abandoned and malnourished. They were taken from their home and placed with Josh. Graham (Graham Thomas Van Cott Currie) - 13 yo 8th grader - 5' 0" tall, brown hair, brow eyes, and uncut. Cole's brother and also malnourished when he came to live at the Currie household. Pat (Patrick Alan Murray Currie) - 15 yo sophomore - 5' 9" tall, dirty blond hair, blue eyes, and cut. Solid build. Pat never had a stable home life, being raised by several different relative and moving around frequently. This caused him to have problems in school. He had got into a minor scrape with the law, and Judge Shay asked Josh to take him in. Pat was attached to Carlos for a while, but now he's dating a girl. He is bi. Trey (Alexander Michael Daniels III Currie) - 14 yo freshman - 5' 8" tall, brown hair, brown eyes, and uncut. He's slender, shy, a bit effeminate, and an avid reader. Trey was an orphan, as his parents and sister were killed in an explosion at his house while he was away. Trey and Dion are now boyfriends. Frankie (Franklin Albert Hopkins) - 17 yo senior - 5' 11" tall, black hair, brown eyes, and cut. He has broad shoulders and a solid build. Frankie came as a result of getting into trouble and at the request of Judge Shay. There were several problems and Frankie was taken away, but he came back and was given a second chance by the Curries. Frankie is straight and dating a girl. Sammy (Tsukimo Yamada Currie) - 12 yo 7th grader - 4' 11" tall, black hair, black eyes, and uncut. Small for his age. Sammy and his brother, Andrew, came to live with the Curries after they read where his Japanese father had shot his American wife and then killed himself. The boys only had their Japanese grandparents, who decided they were better off with the Curries. Andrew (Furuhata Yamada Currie) - 10 yo 5th grader- 4' 5" tall, black hair, black eyes, and uncut. Also small for his age. Sammy's brother, and came to the Curries after the murder/suicide of their parents. Dion (Dion Jamal Jackson Currie) - 12 yo 8th grader - 5' 9 1/2", black hair, brown eyes, cut. Dion has toffee colored skin, is a loner and non-athlete. Dion was born to teenage parents and raised by his grandmother. His mother took off and his father, a fireman, was killed in a fire. When his grandmother died, Sally became his guardian but thought he'd do better with the Curries. Dion and Trey are boyfriends, but Dion is bi and just chooses to be with Trey. Carlos (Carlos Miguel Garcia) - 14 yo freshman - 5' 6" tall, black hair, brown eyes, and uncut. Carlos is stocky, but not obese. Carlos and his mother (an illegal Mexican immigrant) moved from California to Philadelphia with her boyfriend. The boyfriend physically abused Carlos and Carlos ran away. Josh was able to keep Carlos and his mother together, by helping to arrange for her to be in the country legally and by helping her to find a job and place to live. Nick (Nicholas Mark Lawrence) - 14 yo freshman - 5' 9" blond hair, blue eyes, and cut. Slender, a swimmer's build. Nick thought his father hated him because he was gay and ran away from home. The Curries found him on their Arizona vacation. They managed to reunite the family, but Nick came to stay with them to go to school. Other recurring characters: Sally Swarthout - works for Dept. of Social Services, and Josh's friend. Sally helped convince Josh to become a foster parent and brought him many of the boys. The boys call her Aunt Sally. Steve Shay - Judge who presided over the first adoption and arranged for Pat and Frankie to come to live with the Curries. He and his wife (Mary) have since become good friends of the family and the boys call them Uncle Steve and Aunt Mary. Josh's older children & their spouses (from oldest to youngest): Michael (Andrea), Marie (Adrian), Robert, and Elizabeth. Jordan - Josh's 7yo grandson - he's in second grade and comes and spends a great deal of time with his grandfather and uncles. Nicky - Josh's 5 yo grandson (he and Jordan are cousins) - he is in kindergarten and he also spends a great deal of time with his grandfather and uncles. Melanie - baby granddaughter and Nicky's sister. Born a few months after the England vacation. Mark Williams - 19 yo - 6' 1" tall, black hair, gray eyes, and straight, with a trim and fit build. He's a finance major at Northern Arizona University. Waited on the Curries when they ate at a restaurant near the Grand Canyon, in Arizona. He was illegitimate and he lived with his mother in Oregon. The O'Haras - (father Patrick) Brandon's parents who live in Texas and are good friends with the Curries. The Curries visited them in Texas on one of their vacations. The Lawrences - (parents Mike and Julie) Nick's from Oklahoma. Have become very close to the Curries since they helped reunite them with Nick. The Yamadas - Sammy and Andrew's Japanese grandparents. The Spences (John and Margaret) - Older couple the boys met on the plane on their Arizona vacation. The Spences have become surrogate grandparents to the boys since.