Answer: This short piece of work by author Maureen Daly features an informal, sentimental, at times humorous, intimate and impassioned tone, the result of an unassuming yet touching story that is recounted in an approachable and very descriptive way. The speaker trusts in the reader and opens her heart to her/him, much like she would to her journal.
Explanation: This is a frank story about teenager love, and the excitement, but also the disappointments, that it entails. That turns it, in my opinion, into a very appealing story, since almost everybody can relate to it. The protagonist of "Sixteen" starts her story, which could certainly be an entry in her journal, by showing a defensive attitude: she doesn't want the reader to believe that she might be dumb, so she makes it clear that she isn't - in her eyes, being dumb might explain why the lovely boy that she met at the ice skating ring didn't call her back, even though he said he would. She then goes on to describe the night where she met the boy. Hers is a very detailed, linear and intimate narration, which helps the reader to visualize the setting, engage in the story and empathize with her feelings right away. In addition, by using direct speech and not paraphrasing the boy's words Daly contributed to create a very lively story, and, somehow, made his cowardly "disappearing act" even more despicable, since the reader had "heard" him saying that he would call her.
