Fortunately, one of the things I had going for me, and the thing that interested my agent the most, was the voice with which I told the story. I used two voices, which is tricky, but they were distinct enough and related to their characters enough that I think it'll work.
What is voice? Well, Mary Kaley at Kidlit (see sidebar of places you need to visit), gives a brief overview, and has a link to more detail.
I'll try to sum it up here - it's the voice of the person telling the story. Literally. Their voice - how they speak, how the act, react, emphasize, de-emphasize, etc. My favorite voice writer? Stephen King, hands down. Each of his novels sound like they're being told to me by someone, either a spooky old neighbor, or a cool hero. Even if it's written in third person, the voice fits.
In my book, when Jeff is telling the story, it's pretty straight-ahead, no b.s. Ben? Well, he's a bit of a character and likes to throw in more opinions. And it's important to keep them separated. On notes from my agent she pointed out several instances where the writing doesn't fit Ben's voice or Jeff's voice. And it's remarkable that it stands out like that because on those occasions I just switched the same words to italics making it Ben's voice, but didn't change the words.
See the voice pages for more detail. You should be able to get a good idea of how they can be very different even in the same story.
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