Hamilton's writing tends to be poetic and descriptive, detailing landscape, clothing, and facial expressions. As in all good writing, the language conveys the mood; for example, the spoil heap is "an enormous black boil," "half-congealed," and "a thing." Hamilton's use of dialect is also effective. Her characters speak naturally, with a normal amount of slang, local expression, and grammatical error.

Hamilton's writing can be appreciated on several different levels. Younger readers will enjoy her plot and her characters; older readers will appreciate the symbolism and mythic elements of her story. One of the first symbols to appear is M.C.'s pole, presented to him by his father after M.C. swims the Ohio River.

The pole is a prize, a symbol of M.C.'s strength and bravery. It also has sexual connotations, being described as "slippery and smooth" and "forty feet of glistening, cold...