Point of View

In terms of narrative point of view, the story is told from the first-person, present-tense perspective of protagonist Kiran, a 12-year-old (pre-adolescent) South Asian youth, who refers to himself as Indian. Here, though, it is important to note that in terms of language, quality and depth of insight, and sense of perspective, the narrator seems to be more adult than the youth whose story is being told. In other words, there is a strong sense that adult Kiran’ is telling pre-teen Kiran’s story, with adult knowledge of youthful motivation and experience of inner life: the adult, telling the story of himself as a child, using first-person and present-tense narration to draw the reader more closely to the experiences being described.

Those experiences, in terms of thematic point of view, have to do with Kiran’s acknowledgement and celebration of his differences from other young...