Will Tweedy is said by critics to be a creation reminiscent of Mark Twain's Huck Finn in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1854) and Holden Caufield in J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye (1951). Tweedy's fourteen-year-old eyes render a portrait of life that is as honest as it playful. As the tumultuous year of 1906 unfolds, Will Tweedy encounters such complex issues as death, prejudice and love. Yet the course of the journey is kept lively and engaging due in large part to the charm and vigor of young Tweedy.

Like a Twain character, Will moves deftly from shenanigan to social quandary without missing a beat.