Ritter demonstrates the awareness that he is writing for middle grade readers not only in the delicate manner in which he deals with Dante’s confession of his struggle with alcohol and the sudden death of Doc but also in the way he manages to convey strong emotions and quick responses clearly without the use of vulgar language by young people or adults. He transforms recognizable adult expressions into humorous quips. For example, when the attorney Graydog wants to emphasize that the goal of the Wildcats is not to do well in the Big Game but rather to win it, he exclaims, “Fighting chance, my asthma! […] We want them to win” (45).

When Dante, a Catholic, finds two 12-year-old boys have broken down the wall around his compound, he asks them, “What in the Hail Mary were you trying to do?” (79). Rather than cursing a man he detests, Dante creatively says, “The mayor? That double-crossing sack of cow’s cud. He’s crooked as a snake in a rake” (83). The young people prove equally adept at avoiding vulgar expressions and replacing them with sharp responses, as when Clifford describes the high quality of their most recent batting practice: “You saw us today.