The Light in the Forest blends historical facts, an understanding of pioneer attitudes, and a Native American viewpoint in a simple but captivating story about a young boy confronting the ambiguous nature of good and evil.

In order to avoid polarizing Native Americans and settlers in a good versus evil structure, most events, characters, and locales are described from both points of view. The omniscient narrator alternates the perspectives of the Lenape and the whites, balancing each account by one group with a similar one from the other group. If the Paxton boys are racist and have killed numerous Native Americans, so have the Native Americans The Light In the Forest scalped whites and even used a child's head as a football. If Little Crane, who comes in peace, is shot from behind, Half Arrow and True Son also start to scalp Uncle Wilse in revenge...