The author gives Cassie an artful grasp of the language of Mississippi in the dialogs. The effect is to bring realism into the story and a sense of theater, where the reader hears the voices of the characters with greater clarity. The straight narrations are delivered in standard English with a slight hint of Cassie's voice and are intermixed with dialog to expand the story. Word choices are kept toward what would be expected at a high school level, and this makes the story an easy read.