Randall is sensitively drawn, giving the reader a real feel for a child caught in a life of extreme poverty. Ransom J. Powell left home at age thirteen to join the Union Army during the Civil War. In spite of horrible conditions, he refused to sign a parole, which would have released him, because it would have been going against his sworn loyalty to the Union. Told in the first person, the experiences in this book seem immediate and real. The horrors of the prison conditions are described convincingly.
Honor plays a strong theme.
He needs something, he's not sure what, of his grandmother's to help him keep her memory. In his search, he has to deal with a pestering little sister. This story tells of his search and the effect of his decision. Little Leaguer might think it couldn't get worse. She's a New Yorker with an attitude, who takes over the team by blackmailing them with a photograph.