Renata Benioff

Renata Benioff, the 16-year-old Russian student at Thompson High School, has been sent by her parents to live with her uncle Mikhail Therreroff and study in the States.

It is difficult for Renata to fit in considering the language barrier, which she however does not take long to abolish bit by bit. She is determined, sweet, curious and intelligent, and is very suspicious of her uncle's plans.

Since Mikhail regrets forgetting all the Russian he could speak before he moved to the States in 1988, Renata offers to teach him. However since he is unfortunately a slow learner, she finds herself unable to teach him anything and he ends up teaching her English instead.