How does the author use the natural world as a metaphor for Ari and Dante’s experiences?

What is the importance of dreams in driving the narrative? How do Ari and his father’s dreams promote their growth and transformation throughout the novel?

The author’s use of an epistolary form demonstrates how Ari and Dante’s lives change when Dante moves to Chicago. What is the purpose of the letters? What do the letters reveal about Ari and Dante?