A Scatter of Light
Parents say
Based on 1 review
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that A Scatter of Light is a companion to Malinda Lo's 2021 National Book Award winner Last Night at the Telegraph Club. Eighteen-year-old MIT-bound Aria Tang West had planned to spend the summer on Martha's Vineyard with her best friends. Then a boy posts topless photos of her online, she's slut-shamed at school, and her parents decide it's best if she spends the summer with her grandmother in San Francisco. Having always thought she was attracted to boys, Aria is surprised at the feelings she's developing for Steph Nichols, her grandmother's 20-something gardener. When Aria embarks on her first lesbian affair with Steph, they both know it could lead to heartbreak. Characters routinely use profanity such as "f--k," "a--hole," and "s--t." Teens drink and get drunk at a high school party and adults drink, smoke cigarettes, and pass around pot brownies. While the sex between Aria and Steph is sometimes graphic ("her hand sliding between my legs, her fingers stroking me"), it's always sensitively written and never sensationalized. The novel has a diverse group of primary characters who are half-Chinese, queer, Latina and queer, Black, and White.
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Great Role Models
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What's the Story?
A SCATTER OF LIGHT is set in 2013 and told in the voice of 18-year-old aspiring astronomer Aria Tang West. After a boy posts topless photos of her online, Aria finds herself branded a slut at school and the plans she'd made to spend the summer holidays with the families of her best friends friends Tasha and Haley are abruptly cancelled. As her parents are divorced, her opera singer mother is in Europe, and her father's trying to finish a book, Aria's sent to spend the summer with her grandmother. She adores her grandmother Joan, who lives in Marin County outside of San Francisco and is an accomplished artist and photographer. When Aria first meets Steph Nichols, her grandmother's gardener, she thinks she's cute and wishes she were a boy, "because then my summer would be a lot more interesting." But the summer does get interesting for Aria as she realizes she's attracted to Steph and looks at her in a way she's never looked at a girl before. When Steph invites Aria to join her and her friends when they go into San Francisco for the Dyke March, she agrees and finds herself quickly included in their group -- aspiring chef Mel Lopez, Mel's ex-girlfriend Roxy, and Steph's girlfriend Lisa. As the attraction between Aria and Steph grows, they begin to meet secretly and the relationship eventually turns sexual. But with Aria due to leave at the end of summer for her freshman year at MIT and Steph committed to Lisa, their future together is uncertain.
Is It Any Good?
This sensitively written queer coming-of-age story explores broken family ties, friendship, heartbreak, and first love. Readers of Last Night at the Telegraph Club will be delighted to discover its two main characters reappear in A Scatter of Light. Lily Hu (who turns out to be related to Aria) and Kathy Miller are now married after being together for 53 years. Each has achieved their dreams, with Lily working on robotic spacecraft and Kathy training women hoping to become astronauts.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how A Scatter of Light portrays Aria's coming out as a lesbian. Does it seem realistic? Familiar?
Is there someone in your life who's encouraged and inspired you to follow your dreams?
Have you or any of your friends had something embarrassing or hurtful posted about you on social media? Do you think Aria paid too high a price for the topless photos being posted online? What should have happened to the boy who posted the photos?
Book Details
- Author: Malinda Lo
- Genre: Coming of Age
- Topics: Friendship, Great Girl Role Models, High School
- Character Strengths: Perseverance
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
- Publication date: October 4, 2022
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 15 - 18
- Number of pages: 336
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (abridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: October 5, 2022
Our Editors Recommend
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Last Night at the Telegraph Club
Unforgettable queer love story set in 1950s San Francisco.
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19 Love Songs
Emotional collection explores love from all angles.
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You Know Me Well
Sweet story of gay teens who become fast friends.
For kids who love coming-of-age and LGBTQ+
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