Sustaining love within the family and among friends is a strongly developed theme in A Taste of Daylight. Love and a sense of responsibility compel Seely and Robert to take care of each other and work hard to ease their mother's load.

A second strong theme is physical and personal hardship. Seely is growing up during the Depression when material goods are scarce for her and her family because of the small income from her mother's job. Many times they must make do with what they have or do without.

Seely dreams of completing high school and maybe going on to college like her big sister, Julie. She sees education as a way out of the Depression and hardship, and she rigorously pursues her studies in spite of snubs and slights of classmates. This ties into the ever present theme of personal dignity and...