All the Bright Places

Quotes from poets and authors including Virginia Woolf, Dr. Seuss, Cesare Pavese, and Robert Lowell. Mention of the Bronte sisters. Jovian-Plutonian gravitational-effect hoax explained. Statistics and facts about several methods of suicide. Author's note relates personal experience with a friend who committed suicide and provides many links to sites about suicide prevention, mental illness, surviving another's suicide, bullying, and abuse. Some geography of Indiana, including places of interest and important figures such as writer James Whitcomb Riley.

Finch has had behavioral problems in the past with fighting, smashing things, and setting off fireworks at school; in the present, he refuses to fight back when provoked or beaten. He thinks about suicide a lot. He manages to help Violet return to normal life after grieving by demonstrating how to make the most of your time on earth. He doesn't pressure Violet to have sex even after they've been making out. Violet at first is coccooned in her grief and wants only to put more time between herself and past tragic events, eventually learning to live in the moment. She does the right thing by seeking help when she learns a friend may be suicidal and models tremendous resilience and optimism after enduring multiple tragedies.

Older teens talk about sex, mostly along strict gender lines that accept the double standard as the norm. Boys mention "getting laid" and "scoring," saying, "Did you hit that yet?" and similar things. Sexual activity is associated with sluttiness in girls. Main characters have mature, matter-of-fact attitudes about sex. A dozen or so kisses are not described in detail. A few make-out sessions mention kissing with tongue, hands under shirts, skin-to-skin contact, and needing a lot of willpower not to go all the way. Older teens have sex a few times, but it's not described. No contraception or protection against STDs is mentioned, nor are there any consequences to sex.

Facebook, CW, Google, Target, Saturn, Old Navy, American Eagle, Abercrombie, Macaroni Grill, NoDoz, Red Bull, Chevy Impala, Airstream, Chick-fil-A, American Spirit, Chuck Taylor, Keds.