Examine the novel’s ending. What is the effect of many of the “big questions” (such as where Brad and Celine go to university, or whether Celine’s father attends the ball) remaining unanswered? Support your claim with evidence from the text.

Friendship is an important theme in YA novels, and Brad and Celine are both supported by their friends as they learn to understand themselves and each other more clearly. Look at one of the new friendships in the novel and one of the preexisting friendships, and argue how those characters’ perspectives help Celine and Brad shift their self-perception.

Celine and Brad are both Black, and Brad laments being one of very few Black students at their school. How do these explicit mentions of race affect the novel?