The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara The author of “The Lesson” is Toni Cade Bambara who lived from 1939 to 1995 . It seems the author wrote about her own experiences. The main characters in the story are Miss Moore, Sylvia and Sugar. The narrator is Sylvia: a young girl who puts up a rough, tough front as protection from her poor, modern day, New York City environment. She deals with the circumstances in her life that she feels she has no control over, with a hard, mean act. Sylvia’s cousin, Sugar, is smart but lets Sylvia bully her. Sugar holds herself back to avoid Sylvia’s anger and because they are close friends. Sugar easily figured the ten percent tip for the taxi driv