What Jamie Saw is a novel about child abuse and, as such, has a strong message.

There is violence, there is cruelty, there is a sense of fear. For a young child, violence is very threatening to his or her safe world.

Although there are many children who are victims of abuse, this fact is not usually a topic for a children's novel. The reader will need a certain amount of maturity to handle Van's violent act. Given this warning, the author handles the topic with delicacy while not playing down the menace. Jamie's viewpoint makes the subject accessible for the younger reader without going into complex explanations about the psychological reasons for Van's actions.