Point of View

The entire novel is told through the first person point of view with two narrators: Karen and Anka. Karen is the narrator for vast majority of the novel, with most of text and all the illustrations being entries in her journal. Karen is postured at first as an outsider to the main events of the plot, such as Anka's murder, Mama's illness, and Deeze's potential guilt. She gradually becomes more and more involved in these events throughout the novel. Her outsider positioning from these events allows the primary arc of the novel to be Karen's emotional journey. While the aforementioned events (among others) are prominent, Karen's emotional maturation and her loss of innocence is the struggle the author holds as paramount. Her feeling that she is being excluded only fuels her resolve to learn more about what is going on with the adults in her...