Comment on language and meaning

The novel is written in an informal, colloquial style with short, pithy sentences that offer vivid descriptions of life in a minority neighborhood. Dialogue is set off in italics, not by more conventional use of quotation marks. Sometimes, informal spellings or less rigid grammatical constructions are used to give a sense of vernacular speech, such as "ain't," "gonna," or "It don't make no kinda sense." The overall effect of the language engages the reader in entering the world of characters and situations that may not be familiar to him or her.