Rinaldi once said, "My books have been praised for the strength of my characters and my dialogue." These two issues plus a strong plot line mark the literary qualities inherent in But in the Fall I'm Leaving. Whe n Brieanna talks to her dad or her brother, Rinaldi captures tone and feeling. With her dad Brieanna is often confused, angry, and frustrated. Dialogue reveals Brieanna's desire not to hurt her father as well as her need to find self. Rinaldi's use of half sentences and short powerful statements, particularly in the angry scenes between Brieanna and her brother, Kevin, captures the emotionality both characters feel because they love one another, and yet they are deadlocked when it comes to their mother.

But in the Fall I'm Leaving is writte n from a limited first-person point of view, in which the reader sees the story through Brieanna's...