Because Abe Lincoln Grows Up is biographical rather than fictional, it lacks a true plot. There is no rising action leading
to a climax that changes the lives of the people involved. Instead, Sandburg creates a realistic background—the frontier wilderness of Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois—and then populates it with historical figures.
The major characters are Abe Lincoln; his mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln; and his stepmother, Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln
The attitudes toward
violence, Native Americans, and blacks depicted in Abe Lincoln Grows Up may concern parents and teachers. Sandburg frequently makes violence sound attractive: "Three boys teased him one day...they would not be satisfied till he had punched their noses." Some descriptions of Mike Fink's and Andrew Jackson's escapades may be viewed as glorifications of physical violence. When Sandburg writes about social injustice, such as the treatment of Native Americans and slaves, he never offers any comment of his own.