Point of View

The story is told in present tense from the first person point of view of Deja Barnes. Deja is a 10 year old girl who lives in a homeless shelter with her family. Since the book is written for the middle school audience, the author's choices of tense and point of view are appropriate because Deja's personal narration shares her immediate mindset and emotions. Thus, Deja becomes more authentic because she is narrating some of the same feelings and thoughts that are similar to those of the intended readers.

Language and Meaning

The language reflects that of a 10 year old girl, and it slightly follows stream of conscious writing. Deja's thoughts are revealed as she has them, which is sometimes in fragments of short phrases or a simple word. The language is straight-forward and easily understood.

Sometimes, Deja narrates using spelling that is consistent with the...