By Joyce Wang ‘20, Arts and Entertainment Editor

Does anyone have time for leisure reading nowadays? Overwhelmed with school work, sports commitments, and after-school activities, it’s hard to find the motivation to sit down and enjoy a book outside of the classroom. Courtesy of Ms. Mahoney, an impromptu book club this past October saw both students and faculty of the NA community join together to read the novel Little Fires Everywhere.

It’s hard to talk about race, class, and privilege without sounding pretentious, wordy, or cheesy. However, Celeste Ng’s “Little Fires Everywhere” delivers these heartfelt themes with a story that can speak to anyone. According to Ms. Mahoney: “several students in the past few months had recommended the author, Celeste Ng, and the book, “Little Fires Everywhere” to me.  Since it seemed to be something that students were reading, I read it and was very moved and impressed.” Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the story unfolds in a town, not so different from ours, that holds strict adherence to order and respect. Hometown to the author herself, the setting served as an inspiration for developing the central themes explored in the novel.

The novel Little Fires Everywhere explores the relationship between two families that couldn’t be more different. The picturesque Richardson household of six has lived in Shaker Heights their whole life. They could not have anticipated the change in their lives after a mother-daughter pairing moves into the Richardson’s rental unit just down the street. As the two families become more than just a rental pair, simultaneously being developed is a white family’s adoption process of a Chinese-American baby. We will see how this interracial conflict unfolds and leads to a revealing of an inconceivable past.

For me, this book was easy to read despite some topics mentioned. I was able to finish the book within two sittings and didn’t find myself overly drained or consumed by the information in the book. I found myself particularly drawn to the characters and the shifting dynamic of character relationships. I would praise Ng on her crafting of imperfect personas that allow for her characters to be so relatable. It was difficult for me to relate to any single character, because only together did they become something pleasant and harmonious.

Both students and faculty were present at the book club and attendees Elaine Choy ‘21 and Ms. Duszak happened to share similar viewpoints regarding their favorite parts of the novel. “My favorite part of the book was the theme of family. There were two main families, and it was interesting to see the contrast between the mother-daughter relationships,” said Elaine Choy. “My favorite thing about Little Fires Everywhere was the character development. Everyone we met, even the more minor characters, were multidimensional and so real. Several times I found myself characterizing someone as a villain, only to empathize with them a few pages later, cheering for someone and then being disappointed in them. It felt like real life,” Ms. Duszak commented. During the discussion, we saw a strengthening connectivity happen between students and faculty of the NA community.

While the development of character relations in the novel was well done, for me, the storyline was not as memorable as one would hope it to be, especially towards the end as conflict instigation and resolution became predictable. Mme. Lysinger thinks that: “It’s not good enough to read in an English class, but it was well crafted and had plenty of things to talk about. It is good for a book club because classes are more analytical while clubs are more like a common reading and discussion based experience.”

During the pop-up book club, the interactions between students and faculty played out very differently from that in a classroom. When asked on why she was interested in attending the book club, Mme. Lysinger replied with “I chose to go to this book club to meet new people. I have a narrow access to the student body and the club helped me to know more people. During the discussion, kids weren’t looking to me to teach them, we were at a level playing field. We were having a conversation.”

Overjoyed from the popular turn out of the pop-up book club, Ms. Mahoney really appreciated that the NA community was able to come together in the commonality of reading and enjoying a book. “As a teacher, it is a joy to just converse rather than have to worry about directing the conversation in order to move toward a goal. The goal was just to talk about the book and enjoy each other’s company.”

Ms. Mahoney says to anticipate another book club to come around winter break. She would like to spread the spirit and voluntary nature of “pop-up” events that mean to be spontaneous and have no expectations or burdens attached at all. Hopefully, this impromptu book club will spark more discussion amongst the various sectors of the NA community and encourage people to read more books!