Little Fires Everywhere

[Jack]

For quarter 2 I read Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. It is about a mother, Mia Warren, and her daughter Pearl as they adjust to living in Shaker Heights, a suburban town in Ohio in the late 20th century. Mia has a cloudy past, and Pearl begins to adjust and begins hanging around new friends whose parents are the owners of the house the Warrens are renting. Mia works very hard and joins Mrs. Richardson, the house owner, as a cleaner on top of her other job. Izzy, the youngest of Mrs. Richardson, and Mia begin to form a strong relationship were they support each other to become better versions of themselves. A baby is found at the firestation, and there is a court case involving the mother, Bebe Chow, who initially didn't want the baby, and Mrs. McCullough who is trying to adopt. During the case, Mia supports Bebe Chow. Mrs. Richardson looks into Mia's past and goes past a lot of boundaries to learn she was a photographer who was a surrogate and was shunned by her family as a result of her decision and so she took the baby away. The baby is Pearl. Mia tells Peal all about her past and at the same time Bebe Chow loses the case but steals the baby back and leaves for good. This encourages Pearl to leave the town and move on with her life as Mrs. Richardson and co begin treating her badly as she doesn't agree with the way Mia sees the world. Izzy gets upset as she is similarly misunderstood, and burns their house up and runs away.

The use of imagery regarding the fire contributes to the gaining a better understanding of the meaning behind the housefire and its significance.. Ng starts the book off by talking about the fire, and we understand we will know why it burnt down by the end of the book. We also hear the fire started in multiple different places. Ng uses imagery in the book to represent different sparks and causes of the fire which as we know results in a whole fire. The first sparks come when Mia and Pearl move in as right away Mrs. Richardson is unnerved and disapproving of Mia Warren. The abortion of Lexie, the unorthodox behavior of Izzy, and finally the custody battle between Bebe and the McCulloughs are also contributing "sparks" to the fire. Then Mrs. Richardson digs up Mia's past, fanning the flames with the way she sees the Warrens. This lack of acceptance gives Izzy the urge and understanding that burning down the house is a result of the way her mother mistreats others who don't agree with her. It is imagery for a rebellion on superiority and oppression that Mrs. Richardon exhibits.

I really did enjoy reading this story, however as I mentioned in class, I felt like the writing itself was not fully developed. It seemed like the storyline was developed enough but the wording was honestly flat and not creative or special, making the book feel really dry at times. Also, the use of the name of the story made me cringe and just seemed like a lack of quality. I think she needed to have an editor re-check things and maybe just revise a little more. Even though I have negative knit-picky thoughts about Ng's writing, I still want to get the point across that the story itself was produced perfectly as I was entertained the whole time. My favorite part of the book is the way the whole book is a flashback as this is a very unique and creative technique to use.

I think with some revision and a just maybe a little more time and effort spent on the writing itself, I think this book could be a classic.