Rob tells his story in the first person, describing his adventures and feelings, and this technique works well. The writer employs colorful dialect to capture the boy's pattern of speech, including sayings familiar to rural Vermont: "true as taproot," "falling fast as a stone," "soldier still," and "wrong as sin on Sunday." Rob tells his story as if he were talking out loud, occasionally using sentence fragments in the narrative as well as in the dialogue. This effective technique makes the narrative flow smoothly and seem more realistic.

The author does not provide many details about his characters' physical appearances, but he includes a wealth of detail about their mannerisms and attitudes. His clear analysis deftly reveals the workings of their minds. The author uses strong verbs and strong nouns; his vivid descriptions do not become flowery. The emotions he wrings from the reader are a...