Cameron's style reflects the multiple levels of thinking required by the contents of The Court of the Stone Children.

Just as the mystery requires Nina to gather factual details to solve it, Cameron uses vivid, specific details to involve all the reader's senses: the aroma of Auguste's fresh-baked bread, the softness of a deep-piled carpet, and the hard, inharmonious sound of a museum bell. Colors are used not only as sensory details but also as symbols.

For instance, the greens and blues that prevail in the Chagall painting are echoed in time-student Gil's intense blue-green eyes and in the moss-green rug and wallpaper of the house where the centuries-old mystery is at last solved. Similarly, the stone children not only appeal to the reader's senses with their intriguing appearance, but also symbolize the lasting quality of human relationships.

On a more abstract level, just as there...