Point of View

The author uses first person narrative throughout the book. The story is told from the perspective of Ned Hall. Any event that doesn't take place in his presence is related through another character relating what happened to Ned. Therefore, everything in the novel is colored by Ned's background and his beliefs. Ned is very perceptive and seems to notice many details that are lost on the other characters in the book.

The first person narrative point of view is often used in a coming of age novel. The Risk Pool follows the thread of Ned Hall's life, so it is a very good choice for this work. It allows the reader to see the world through Ned's eyes and feel his emotions of love, abandonment, joy, indifference, anger, and many other feelings. This point of view also puts the reader in the middle of the tug-of-war...