No Kidding is written entirely in the present tense. Although we get a few of Sam's thoughts, the narration is almost totally descriptive, like explicit stage directions. The actions of the various characters are described in detail, but the reasons for their actions receive little or no attention. This technique helps to emphasize Sam's typical AO need for complete control of his environment. Unable to grant others full autonomy, unable to see people like his mother and brother as having legitimate desires and impulses that are out of line with his own, he judges people entirely on appearances. He reacts to what people do without thinking about why they do it.

This technique also allows Brooks to withhold information about Sam and Ollie's situation and about the world they live in, thus creating an intriguing mystery. Why does a fourteen-year-old boy have so much control over...