

Why does Pearl gravitate toward the Richardsons? How do Mia and Elena see themselves, and are their assessments correct?ĭiscuss the similarities and differences between the four Richardson children: Lexie, Trip, Moody, and Izzy. How are these themes explored differently through the adults versus the teenagers in Little Fires Everywhere?ĭiscuss the similarities and differences between Mia and Elena.ĭiscuss the positive and negative character traits of Mia and Elena. How is the theme of class explored through the characters? How is the theme of race explored through the characters? How is the theme of motherhood explored through the characters? Did you like this early reveal of what was to come or would you have preferred to learn of this as the action unfolded?īy the end of Little Fires Everywhere, the reader knows the literal significance of the title. The novel starts out by telling the reader a home has burned.

Use the following Little Fires Everywhere discussion questions to guide your conversations about this complex book: On Little Fires Everywhere Discussion Questions Little Fires Everywhere is the type of book you find yourself reading compulsively yet also thinking about for years to come in your life (I certainly did!)īecause of how multi-layered it is and how rich the characters are, I was able to easily come up with so many book club questions for your discussions. The two families bond, particularly the children, but the mothers begin to clash when a heated custody battle in their community places them on opposing sides of the aisle.ĭark secrets are revealed and Elena’s and Mia’s families are jeopardized in the process of touching upon motherhood, class, race, and identity in this small suburban neighborhood in which everyone is involved in everyone else’s business.Īnd, as the reader knows from the first page, the results are explosive. Then, it delves into how the characters got there.Įlena is a very tightly wound rule follower who sees herself as a “do-gooder,” renting a duplex to a Black single mother, Mia Warren, and her teenage daughter, Pearl.

The story begins not just with a little fire, but with the burning down of the Richardson home. At the center is Elena Richardson, the matriarch of a white upper-class family with four teenage children: Lexie, Trip, Moody, and Izzy. Little Fires Everywhere Discussion Questionsīriefly, Little Fires Everywhere is the story of the Shaker Heights, Ohio, planned community during the course of a year in the 1990s.
