Point of View

The point of view is that of the omniscient narrator who knows her characters and divulges to the reader how their lives are changed in the process of confronting reality and struggling for survival. The author relates her story in a fairly straightforward manner and allows the characters and settings to set the tone rather than imposing her own thoughts and feelings directly onto the narrative. The author is ever alert to opportunities for revealing what is false in human nature, as well as what is noble. The point of view occasionally shifts to Tendai, the 10-year-old who serves as the central character although all three children experience their encounter with the real world together. In most scenes of high drama, it is Tendai's point of view, actions and reactions that become the focal point of the narrative.

Throughout, the children come across to the reader...