Point of View

The point of view of the novel is constantly changing. Although the novel sticks to a single narrative thread and chronicles the same, cohesive story throughout, each chapter is narrated in the first-person present by a different character. The narrating characters include: Kiana, Mr. Kermit, Parker, Aldo, Mateo, Barnstorm, Dr. Thaddeus, Jake, and Principal. Vargas. Mr. Kermit and Kiana spend the most time narrating. What eight chapters apiece, they take up half the 32 chapters with their voices. Parker has six chapters in which he narrates. The minor characters Aldo, Barnstorm, and Mateo have two chapters apiece. And Mrs. Vargas, Jake, and Dr. Thaddeus only have one narrating chapter apiece, and these occur rather late in the novel. Kiana’s narration opens the novel and closes it.

The constantly rotating perspective creates a novel which is about the Unteachables as a collective, rather than any single...