The authors show sensitivity to the world they create. They accept the diversity of cultures in New York—African American, Indian, Caucasian, French, and Latin— showing respect for their differences. They describe each culture accurately, using typical mannerisms and dialects. The African American sports a closely shaven Afro with a crooked part running zigzag over the top, representative of the 1980s. The Indian mutters words in Spanish. Each character portrays features that represent his or her culture, yet mesh into the novel like the melting pot that New York City is.

Respect for the different cultures shows sensitivity. The authors use the scene on a national television program, This Morning, to emphasize that the mixture of backgrounds and races in the Purple Falcons does not matter—that it is what is inside that counts. "Birds of a feather... Falcon together."

The novel deals...