Point of View

One of the primary themes that run throughout the novel is growing up and coming of age, even against adversity, such as living through the disappearance and murder of a friend. Each of the girls struggles with the fact that her coming of age includes coming to terms what happened to their friend and why. Each girls deals with the responsibilities of trying to figure out who the murderer is and what their motive for killing Ali was.

A couple of the girls also faces the rite of passage of having her first boyfriend. Along with having her first boyfriend, she experiences the struggle of kissing and how far to go with him at her age.

Setting

One of the primary themes that run throughout the novel is growing up and coming of age, even against adversity, such as living through the disappearance and murder of...