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Back Little Universes Save as PDF
Chapters (63)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. Part 1
  6. Mae
  7. Hannah
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. Part 2
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. 33
  42. 34
  43. 35
  44. 36
  45. 37
  46. 38
  47. Part 3
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. 44
  54. 45
  55. 46
  56. 47
  57. 48
  58. Epilogue
  59. Mental Health Resources
  60. Acknowledgments
  61. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
  62. About the Author
  63. Newsletter Sign-up

4. After her father’s death, Hannah reads his emails and realizes he was cheating on her mother with his research assistant. This complicates her grief, infusing it with anger and betrayal. To protect Mae from these feelings, Hannah decides to hide the affair from her sister. Have you ever been put in a position where you had to choose between telling the truth or lying to save someone from hurt? What did you do?

5. Mae struggles with feelings about her adoption in the aftermath of the tsunami. At her parents’ funeral, she overhears someone saying that she wasn’t really their daughter. At the same time, Hannah feels that Mae must’ve been better loved because their parents chose her, while they got “stuck” with Hannah. Where do you think these fears come from for Mae and for Hannah? What do they reveal about their relationships with their parents?

6. Mae and Hannah have inherited from their mother the tradition of making soup in times of crisis. Mae thinks, “When you’re making soup, all you need to think about is chopping and pouring and slicing and stirring. And you can’t mess it up, not really. It’s not like baking, where you have to consider thermodynamics and its effect on various chemical compounds. Baking is science. Soup—maybe soup is art. To make it, you have to engage the right side of your brain. Your imagination. And you need to engage all five senses, not just sight. You give the left side of your brain a break—the logic part of it.” Does this make sense to you, as a coping mechanism? Do you feel like different parts of your brain work differently? Do you feel differently when you are creating art (or making soup), than when you are thinking about science or logic?

7. After Drew helps save Hannah from an overdose, Mae defends his right to be in the hospital, over her family’s objections. This is a major moment for her. As she describes it: “I feel the shift, then. The moment when I truly step over into adulthood, when everything I say doesn’t get to be up for debate. They feel it, too. This night, it has burned away whatever remained of my childhood. That’s done now. I am the commander of my own life.” Have you had a moment like this in your own life, where you felt you had truly crossed over from childhood to adulthood? What was it like? And if not, can you imagine a moment like this in your future?