Point of View

Author Rebecca Wells uses varying points of view to illuminate unexpected facets of character and reveal the whole story in Little Altars Everywhere. Each chapter is told from a different point of view. The point of view and year are indicated in brackets after the chapter title. For example, the first chapter, entitled Wilderness Training (Siddalee, 1963) occurs in 1963 and is told from the point of view of Siddalee Walker. The voice and events reported reveal a great deal about Siddalee, including her need to be as popular as her mother, her extreme empathy towards Edythe, and the reasons behind her eventual rejection of Edythe. Yet, without intending to, Sidda also imparts a great deal of information about her mother, the hard-drinking Girl Scout leader who wears orange stretch pants instead of a uniform.

The alternation of points of view provides similar insights in each chapter. The...