Point of View

The novel is written in the first-person, limited, point of view. The narrator is Mattie Cook, a fourteen-year-old girl and the principle protagonist in all scenes of the novel. There is one exception to this first-person point of view, which is a single sentence on page 79 that is written in the third-person point of view - an apparent editing error.

The first-person point of view is appropriate for the novel and makes the narrative engaging and appealing. Mattie is a sympathetic and likable character that simultaneously shares many traits of a teenager with the resolve and capability of an adult. As a protagonist, she is enjoyable, believable, and compelling. Her outlook on life and her response to the yellow fever epidemic are the focus of the novel and, coupled with the development of plot, provide the basic structure of the novel.

The first-person point of view...