Sunday, July 19, 2020

Little Fires Everywhere - A Perfect YA Read

My book club just read Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere.  To say it was a hit would be an understatement.

The nostalgia trip 90's novel explores the themes of secrets, identity, motherhood—and the dangerous concept that following the rules can avert disaster - an edict each teenager in the novel must reckon with.  Although I'm sure Ng didn't intend for LFE to be a YA novel, it should certainly have a place on the canonical shelf, especially for the current political climate where little fires everywhere - literal and symbolic - seem to be ubiquitous.  





Little Fires Everywhere - YA Book Club Discussion Questions  


1) Shaker Heights is almost another character in the novel. Would you want to live there?  Why or why not?

2) There are many different kinds of mother-daughter relationships in the novel. Who was the best/worst mother?  Why?  How do mothers mold their children - for better or worse?

3) Was there ever a time you wanted Elena and Mia to be real friends?  If so, when?  

4) Which of the teenagers' lives is most changed by the events of the novel - Trip’s? Moody’s? Izzy’s?  Pearl's?  Who evolved the most?  Who would you want as a best friend?  

5) The debate over the fate of May Ling/Mirabelle is multilayered and complex. Who do you think should raise her?  Why?

6) LFE addresses race and class as overarching themes.  In what ways are attitudes toward race and class different and the same today as in the late 1990s, when the book is set?

8) What does the title mean to you? What other meanings do fire and burning take on in the book?  Are there multiple characters setting little fires everywhere - literal or metaphorical?

9) The teens in the novel often feel more comfortable at the home of another family.  Why is this?  What does it say about mother-teen relationships, especially mother-daughter ones?

10)   Reflect on the ending.  Who changes the most?  What do you think happens to Izzy after the novel ends - along with Lexie, Moody, Trip, and Pearl?





Bonus: Watch the Hulu miniseries adaptation of the novel produced by Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington.  Simply riveting!

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