Comment on style/language

The language in Heaven, My Home is, for the most part, colloquial and accessible, replete with regional slang and vernacular. The prologue, told from Levi's perspective, has markers of both his youth and whiteness: he refers to his mother as "Ma" and his grandfather as "Pappy" while also referencing "Injuns...spooks...and Yankees" (3, 6). These derogatory terms for referring to and categorizing people of color are inherited from his father Bill and his mother's boyfriend Gil.