“Poppy wasn’t supposed to make up rules like that—ones that no one else had agreed to—but Zach objected only when he didn’t like them.”

Given Poppy’s permissive home life, it’s become her nature to make up her own rules. Poppy’s parents are absent most of the time, and her siblings, who have received no guidance themselves, also fail to enact strict rules or boundaries for the home. In the game, Poppy shows her need for structure. Taking control is something Poppy has had to do daily to survive her home life.

“His father loved that Zach was on the basketball team. Sometimes that seemed as if it was the only thing about Zach he liked. He didn’t like that Zach played with girls after school instead of shooting hoops with the older kids a couple of blocks over. He didn’t like that Zach daydreamed all the time.”

Black introduces Zach’s main conflict, that between himself and his father. This passage describes the pressures Zach feels from his father to grow up and foreshadows the decision his father will soon make to trash Zach’s action figures.

“Even after he folded the questions back into the shape of a football and tucked it into the front pocket of his backpack, the feeling of the story being close stayed with him. Zach doodled pictures in the margins of his notebook, drawings of cutlasses and blast rifles and crowns next to geometry homework and facts about the Battle of Antietam.”

This passage exemplifies the power and lasting impact of stories. The stories Zach tells or hears linger and often influence his decisions. His connections to narratives such as the Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings series influence what he packs for the quest. Playing William the Blade prompts him to learn to sail, which aids the trio’s journey to East Liverpool.