Paulsen is known primarily as a writer of fiction for adolescent males. The Monument is one of his rare experiments with a female first-person narrator. Nightjohn (1993) is another. The books have similar central themes: the power of art and language, respectively, to elevate and liberate the mind.

While these themes are gender neutral, Paulsen still creates convincing female protagonists. Each has personal concerns and a mode of expression characteristic of adolescent females.

The Winter Room (1989) also addresses the nature and purpose of art.

Its lyrical preface, "Tuning," is a hymn to the imaginative power of the written word. It celebrates the essence of literary art in the interaction of author and reader in a text to create meaning. The Winter Room's attitude toward literature parallels The Monument's attitude toward the pictorial arts: insight comes to those ready to look closely. Dancing Carl (1983) reflects a similar attitude...