The minute I read Scout’s review of The Cartographers, I knew I had to read it. And then, the minute I finished the book, I knew I HAD to discuss it with my book club. So I am very excited that it’s finally March, and WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT!

Amy Zhang has written such a heartbreaking and deeply intimate portrait of that liminal time between adolescence and adulthood, and there are just SO many feelings to unpack. Which is why, IMO, it makes an ideal selection for the FYA Book Club. I hope your chapter enjoys delving into Ocean’s journey and that the following questions spark a lively conversation! (I certainly have opinions about Constant.)

And if you have any questions to add, please feel free to leave them in the comments!

Content Warning

This book features suicidal ideation and depression. 

Icebreaker

Early in the book, Ocean admits that she couldn’t imagine being friends with Georgie at any other time in her life. When you were in your late teens/early 20s, did you have a friend “of the moment” like that?

Questions

Throughout the book, Ocean struggles with depression. What did you think about Amy Zhang’s depiction of it? Did Ocean’s experience make you see depression in a different light or give you a better understanding of it?

Did you understand why Ocean would be drawn to someone like Constant? And how did that compare to your own feelings towards him?

Zhang explores themes of language and identity through Ocean’s relationship with her mother. Did you find this impactful, and if so, why?

How did you feel about Tashya and Georgie as friends? And as characters?

Even though Ocean deferred for a year, she’s still in that liminal time of post-high school, when you’re kind of an adult but not really. Were there elements of her experience at this stage of life that resonated with you? (For example, this line reeeeally got me: “Having opinions intimidated me: defending them, staying consistent with them, admitting you were wrong about them.”) 

Did you enjoy Ocean and Constant’s correspondence via Google doc? Why or why not?

Near the end of the book, Ocean thinks: “Suddenly I understood what Constant had been trying to tell me all along—that the present was preferable to the past, which was unforgiving, or the future, which was relentless.” What’s your take on this?

Finally, who else wants this on a t-shirt: “Who cares if life is unbearable, if we can bear it?” – Georgie

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Sarah lives in Austin, and believes there is no such thing as a guilty pleasure, which is part of why she started FYA in 2009. Growing up, she thought she was a Mary Anne, but she's finally starting to accept the fact that she's actually a Kristy.