Ng, Celeste: *1980

Everything I Never Told You, 2014 - Thematic Parallels: Identity

Identity is about what makes someone or something recognizable and distinct, whether in personal, social, legal, mathematical, or digital terms.
Ng, Celeste: Everything I Never Told You, 2014
The central topic of this novel is how unspoken desires, identity struggles, and societal pressures shape family dynamics and individual lives, sometimes with devastating consequences.
The following books are thematically similar. They lend themselves well to being read in groups, compared with one another, or used to teach a similar topic over an extended period with a class:
- Adichie, Chimamanda: Purple Hibiscus, 2003, ~300pp
  This novel explores family conflict, cultural expectations, and the growth of a young woman navigating oppressive family structures.
  - Both stories show how community expectations, social pressure, norms, and prejudice shape and constrain individual action. They ask: How do people retain or restore dignity in a hostile societal context? What does it mean to be worthy, to be treated as a human being?
- Henríquez, Cristina: The Book of Unknown Americans, 2014, ~280pp
  This novel explores immigration, cultural identity, and the search for belonging, focusing on Latino families adapting to life in the United States.
  - Both novels set up ideals (justice, equality, love) but then show how these are tested by reality. In Mockingbird, the courtroom, jury verdict, and then aftermath show that having ideals isn’t enough. In "Edgar Allan," the ideal of adopting Edgar Allan is undermined by the community’s prejudice, the family’s internal conflict, and ultimately by compromise.
- Moore, Brian: Lies of Silence, 1990, ~210pp
  This novel deals with personal vs. societal expectations, moral dilemmas, and identity under political and social stress.
  - Both novels use personal, family-centered narratives to reveal the harsh realities of racial prejudice, while also offering moral lessons of empathy, justice, and hope. Each book recognizes pain but points toward the possibility of a more just future.
- Thomas, Angie: The Hate U Give, 2017, ~440pp
  This novel explores racial identity, societal expectations, and the impact of discrimination.
  - Both novels highlight how racism pervades daily life, even in spaces that claim to be progressive or neutral. They expose how systemic racism shapes lives, and show the psychological costs of being Black in a racially stratified America.
List of general discussion questions on Identity (pdf)
List of essay prompts on Identity (pdf)