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1. Shaker Heights is
almost another character in the novel. Do you believe that "the best
communities are planned"? Why or why not?
2. There are many different kinds of mother-daughter relationships in
the novel. Which ones did you find most compelling? Do mothers have a
unique ability to spark fires, for good and ill, in us?
3. Which of the Richardson children is most changed by the events of the
novel? How do you think this time ultimately changes Lexie’s life?
Trip’s? Moody’s? Izzy’s?
4. The debate over the fate of May Ling/Mirabelle is multilayered and
heartbreaking. Who do you think should raise her?
5. How is motherhood defined throughout the book? How do choice,
opportunity, and circumstances impact different characters’ approach to
motherhood?
6. Mia’s journey to becoming an artist is almost a beautiful novella of
its own. Mia’s art clearly has the power to change lives. What piece of
art has shaped your life in an important way?
7. Pearl has led a singular life before arriving in Shaker, but once she
meets the Richardsons, she has the chance to become a "normal" teenager.
Is that a good thing?
8. What ultimately bothers Elena most about Mia?
9. The novel begins with a great conflagration, but its conclusion is
even more devastating. What do you think happens to Elena after the
novel ends? To Mia and Pearl? To Izzy? Do you think Izzy ever returns to
Shaker and her family? Why or why not?
10. Celeste Ng is noted for her ability to shift between the perspective
of different characters in her work. How does that choice shape the
reader’s experience of the novel?
11. We see how race and class underline the experiences of all the
characters and how they interact with each other. In what ways are
attitudes toward race and class different and the same today as in the
late 1990s, when the book is set?
12. Izzy chooses "This Be the Verse" to sum up her life. Is what the
poem says accurate, in the context of Izzy’s experience?
13. What does the title mean to you? What about the book’s dedication?
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