“In Shaker Heights there was a plan for everything.” – Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere
Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere is a page-turning novel following two families in the seemingly perfect town of Shaker Heights, Ohio. The book follows the families as they navigate newfound hardships and their morals are tested.
Little Fires Everywhere shows readers that there is no such thing as perfectly planned in life. Mia Warren and Elena Richardson are both women who reside in Shaker Heights with their families, but that is about all they have in common. Shaker Heights is a community built to withstand change, but with Mia Warren’s arrival, change might be exactly what comes.
Elena Richardson is a stereotypical white suburban mom who was raised and is raising her children in Shaker Heights. Everything Elena stands for is represented in the community in which she resides. Life was perfect for the Richardson family. Elena has her job as a journalist for the local newspaper. Lexi, a senior, is in the midst of her application to Yale. Tripp is playing varsity sports and is one of the most popular guys in high school, Moody, though not as popular as his older brother, is brilliant and an honors kid, and then there is Izzy. Izzy is a little different, but who cares? The Richardsons are perfect, and they know it. In comes Mia Warren, a single mother and an artist who has never stayed in one place longer than a year. Mia and her daughter Pearl are accustomed to the simple life of thrift stores and yard sales. Though Mia is the opposite of what Elena stands for, she rents her an apartment in hopes of helping Mia, though Mia does not want any help. Despite their differences, they develop a strange friendship until a baby comes into the mix. Depending on the person, the baby May Ling or Mirabelle causes chaos in the town of Shaker Heights and a town divided. The chaos in Shaker Heights reaches the Richardson home causing a rift to form between them and the Warrens.