I wanted to relax through a book on vacation so the very detailed descriptions in the beginning put me off at first, but that soon became appreciated when the story began to form about the young boy's coming of age questions and experiences. I skipped through much of the cursing dialogue of the young boys he knew, but found it authentic compared to my own upbringing in rural Missouri and it revealed how different the regular mainstream "religious" kids were in contrast to the non-believers or those who had other religions. I found the structure of religion in his home very interesting and really appreciated how he described his devoted mother who truly believes in the power of prayer. I enjoyed the character of Ultima and her respect for nature and natural cures very much.