Hogan's novel is beautifully, even poetically written. Her protagonist's name, Omishto, means "she who watches," and Omishto is an astute observer. She is a solitary child, one without many friends, and thus spends much time thinking about the world she inhabits. There is little dialogue in the novel—everything is filtered through Omishto's thoughts, and we are given her perceptions of the world, rather than being asked to draw our own conclusions from the action.

The language of the novel allows the reader to see, feel, and even smell Omishto's Florida. When Ama fires the gun at the panther, "the world breaks apart in the terrified screams of small animals," but then everything goes quiet, "a great silence spreads over the place. It is bleeding silence." Earlier, during the hurricane, there is a "heavy moment of silence dark gray with weight," "the silence before [the...