Genre
Children's Fiction
Setting and Context
1936, Manifest, Kansas, a small town still affected by the Great Depresson
Narrator and Point of View
The book is written from the point of view of Abilene.
Tone and Mood
Sometimes somber and melancholic; sometimes hopeful and inspiring
Protagonist and Antagonist
Abilene is the protagonist; her father's history of running away is her antagonist.
Major Conflict
There is conflict within the story that the diviner tells, between the people of the town and the unscrupulous mine owners.
Climax
Abilene tricks her father into coming to Manifest but tells him that she has learned of his history which means that he forgives himself and understands that she wants him to stay.
Foreshadowing
The discovery of the box of mementoes foreshadows the writing of the threatening note by the undertaker who is worried that the children will unmask him as the traitor who told the mine owners about the plan to purchase the land for the town
Understatement
Abilene is said to feel abandoned but this understates her feelings, as she doesn't understand why her father has left her, wanting only for him to come home.
Allusions
The book alludes to historical events such as World War One and the Great Depression.
Imagery
The imagery created by the author enables the reader to picture a small run down town that is trying to bounce back rom the Depression but is still struggling to.
Paradox
Although Jinx runs away from Manifest he puts roots back down there by sending his daughter to live there.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the way in which Jinx ran away from Manifest the first time, thinking mistakenly that he killed a man, and the way in which he ran away from his daughter when he believed the bad infected cut she got was his fault.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The Town is the way in which the towns people are described , rather than calling them by their individual names.
Personification
No specific examples
