O'Dell develops Harley so completely that readers can begin to anticipate what his reactions are going to be, but there is little physical description of him. We know that he is a poor boy from the backwoods of Pennsylvania, that he is tall and in good shape, that he wears a baseball-style cap, tee shirts, and blue jeans; but that is about it.

The lack of physical details allows O'Dell to present Harley as more of an Everyman, and readers can envision themselves or someone they know engaging in essentially the same actions that Harley does, based on his rough-and-tumble personality, his handto-mouth existence, and his violence-plagued childhood. He is a fully realized, sympathetic character who inspires empathy and understanding, rather than simply some guy in a tragic news story.

O'Dell succeeds in giving readers a richly detailed glimpse into the mind of a troubled youth, and that...