If Only Narrator:

Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?

First Person (Central Narrator)

Who else is going to tell the intimate story of a character's loss besides the character herself? We're right there with Corinna as she relates the year after her mom's death. We get to read her English essay, she lets us see into her mom's diary, and we experience her surprise when she learns that Sophie's parents used a sperm donor to conceive her. Through allowing the narrator to speak directly to the reader, Geithner helps readers relate, and if you're a kid going through your own loss, you definitely need someone who gets you.