As one would expect of a linguist, Napoli is a master wordsmith. The one- and twoword titles of the chapters in Stone in Water mark it for a short, quick work: "The Film," "The Train," "The Picks," "Wasser," "Stones," "Boots," "The Woods," "Cold," "Life," "The Sled," "The Boy," "Boots Again," "Under Bushes," "Fever," and "Stones." These simple words, if reread after finishing the story, will "throw" the reader back—like the quick crack of rifle shots—into the action of the novel.

Each word recalls images of the story.

The film recalls that it was the seemingly innocent action of going to the movies that changed the boys' lives forever. The train is the vehicle that carried them so far from home. "Wasser" recalls the water and the German soldier who sloshed their daily ration into their tin cups. The picks and stones remind...