The distinctive setting of Getting Near to Baby is vital to the development of the plot.

Although the general setting is Raleigh, North Carolina, the focused setting is that of a rooftop. The two heroines of the story start out sitting on the roof of their Aunt Patty's house and only climb down on the last page of the novel. The plot develops as young Willa Jo begins questioning, through flashbacks, the reasons which ultimately led her and Little Sister to sit on the roof from sunrise until sunset.

The roof is of further importance to the plot as Willa Jo is given the chance to come to terms with her grief and to see the situation from a distance. Given the distance that the height of the roof provides physically as well as metaphorically, Willa Jo is given the opportunity to see everything from above; thus, she...