May asked S.J. Kincaid:

Where did you get the idea for Tom's personality? How were you able to write the entire novel in a boy's perspective?

S.J. Kincaid I didn't focus on writing a boy character (though keeping it in third person pov helped!), but rather, I just tried to know Tom in and out: he grew up in an unstable situation with no authority figure, perpetually in a situation with profound disadvantages and insecurity, so I knew he would have to have psychologically developed in ways that responded to that situation. The main idea for Tom: whenever he is pushed, he pushes back harder-- even if pushing back is the last thing he should do. This aspect of his character really clarified for me the first time I wrote his confrontation with Karl-- when Karl wants him to bark, and Tom would rather get his arm ripped out. Everything about his character evolved from that.

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