Places I Was Dreaming is a study in poetic tone and the function of story that introduces us to a plucky boy living in rural poverty. The book follows him from preschool through his third grade winter, showing us his life in an extended family of storytellers in which everyone talks at the same time and the lack of money is an ever-present threat that even a child cannot help but be aware of. The boy approaches difficulty through “kid-logic”—seemingly rational but incorrect conclusions about what he sees, and his attitude is by turns stoic, uncomprehending, philosophical, and comic.