Intrinsic Nature

The world of Alexandria, Mississippi, is not rendered in such handy opposites as black or white, left or right, all or nothing. While its residents are complicated people with better moments and worse, they do, however, sort quite tidily into the categories "good" and "bad." Though Harriet is independent, intelligent, and capable, she is still an innocent twelve-year-old child. She has heard about her murdered brother Robin her whole life and still feels a certain closeness to him. Out of these and other complicated feelings, Harriet decides to figure out who killed her brother and punish the culprit. She comes to believe that Danny Ratliff killed Robin, though it is revealed by the book's end that Danny did not do it. To exact her revenge on Danny, Harriet enlists the help of another child, Hely, and they both commit several illegal acts in the process. While their...