What makes a story interesting, engaging, or impactful?

What happened when the boy who survived an explosion aboard a steamboat returns to town

In chapter 3, scout criticizes her classmate, walter cunningham, for asking for molasses and then pouring it on his vegetables and meat while he was a guest at the finch home. in this scene, what does the author’s use of flashback in a first person point-of- view narration achieve?

Which is it? the desert is than the mountains? 1. drier 2. more dry