Point of View

Getting Near to Baby, by Audrey Couloumbis, is written in the first person narrative. The narrator of the story is thirteen-year-old Willa Jo Dean who tells of the challenges and obstacles she encounters when staying with a demanding aunt while at the same time dealing with the grief of the tragic loss of Baby, her two-year-old baby sister. Willa Jo, whose father left the family, takes on more responsibility than her age should allow. She musters the strength to help her fragile mother on whom life has inflicted great anguish and suffering.

By Willa Jo narrating the story, the reader is privy to the frustrations that she experiences while staying with Aunt Patty who is fastidious about her house and is determined to further an unrealistic image of the perfect family that she is bent on displaying. With each bossy comment and controlling maneuver from Aunt...