Week 1: August 22 - Orientation meeting
Week 2: August 29 - Discussion of Ch. 1-6 (pg. 1-157 )
Week 3: September 12 - Discussion of Ch. 7-12 (pg. 158-292)
From the author's website:
Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet . . .
So begins the story of this exquisite debut novel, about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother’s bright blue eyes and her father’s jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue—in Marilyn’s case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James’s case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party.
When Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos. James, consumed by guilt, sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful, is determined to find a responsible party, no matter what the cost. Lydia’s older brother, Nathan, is certain that the neighborhood bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it’s the youngest of the family—Hannah—who observes far more than anyone realizes and who may be the only one who knows the truth about what happened.
A profoundly moving story of family, history, and the meaning of home, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, exploring the divisions between cultures and the rifts within a family, and uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.
Celeste Ng shared recommendations for additional readings related to Everything I Never Told You. USF Libraries has the following books in our collections ready to become your next read.
Amy and Isabelle by 
The Chinese in America by Each week, VBC discusses sections of the book together. Below is a collection of weekly discussion questions posed by VBC leadership and members. Be aware that these likely include spoilers, so please do not scroll further if you have not read the book.
Week 1: Orientation meeting
1) Have you ever felt like an outsider?
2) How do experiences of prejudice and stereotyping in our youth continue to shape us as adults?
3) Sibling relationships are incredibly complex. If you have siblings, how do you think your placement in the family may have shaped you? Are certain siblings held to different expectations? If you are an only child, how does that affect you?
4) Have you read or experienced any other works by Celeste Ng? What do you think this will be like based on those experiences?
5) Judge a book by its cover - what do you expect from seeing this cover art?
Week 2: Chapters 1-6
1) Who is Lydia Lee to you? What type of adult could this “person” become?
2) Do most people see you, or do they see you for what they want or need you to be?
3) What role did Marilyn’s father leaving her mother, play in Marilyn’s personal ambition?
4) What draws Marilyn to James? What draws James to Marilyn?
5) What are some reasons James would hide the autopsy report from his family?
6) What does Doris’s cookbook symbolize to her daughter?
7) Could Marilyn have convinced her family to support her going back to school?
8) What is the symbolism of the torn note Marilyn left behind?
Week 3: Chapters 7-12
1) Having finished the novel, what is one word you might use to describe this book?
2) If you could pick a title for this book, what would you title it?
3) Having read the book, who do you think are the "I" and the "You"?
4) What is the symbolism of Nath’s interest in space? How does it relate to his father’s interest in American cowboys?
5) Lydia admits she is failing physics amidst Nath’s news of his acceptance to Harvard. What is her intention with announcing it at that time? What are the results of her announcement?
6) What does Lydia struggling to drive and failing her permit symbolize?
7) There is so much that the characters keep to themselves. Do you think this level of secrecy would exist in 2022 in the Lee family household? Why or why not?
8) Speculate wildly: What would have happened if Lydia reached the lake dock and survived? Could she have changed her parents’ views and expectations of her?