The Shape of Thunder
Recommended Ages: 8-12
Not a novel I would recommend, please take time to read the details below.
Finishing Other Words for Home left me interested in other novels by Jasmine Warga, which lead me to her 2021 novel The Shape of Thunder. This book is certainly not for every reader and there are elements that should be discussed with readers. The story is written from two alternating perspectives, Cora and Quinn. As details are slowly revealed, the central conflict becomes more clear – Quinn’s older brother, Parker, took guns to school and killed four people, one of which included her best friend Cora’s sister, Mabel.
The story opens with Cora’s perspective as she celebrates her 12th birthday and considers that in two years she will be the same age as her sister Mabel who is dead. Throughout the story, Cora is learning to process and manage her grief and anger. Fortunately, her father and grandfather are highly supportive and have her receiving professional help to work through the events that took her sister’s life. Cora is angry over the events and is no longer friends with Quinn at the opening of the book; however, as the story progresses, she struggles with “hanging out” with Quinn – questioning if it is somehow a betrayal after what happened to Mabel. Throughout the central conflict and focus, there are subplots with the Quiz Bowl Team she participates in at school, her friendship with Mia, and her developing crush on Owen, her friend and teammate.
In contrast to Cora, each chapter with Quinn’s perspective begins with her writing a letter to her brother Parker. As you read, you see Quinn’s hurt and pain as she questions what caused Parker to do what he did, her guilt at knowing he had access to her father’s guns, and her loss of her brother as she wrestles with not only what he did, but the fact that he also shot himself. Quinn’s perspective throughout the book is quite difficult to read, and I think Warga could have done a better job of somehow wrapping up her storyline better. Cora has support throughout because of what Parker did to her sister; however, Quinn is left sort of ostracized at school, with the exception of one girl who makes an attempt to speak and befriend her – those portions are few and far between. In addition to what is seen at school, Quinn’s friendship with Cora is shattered, and Quinn’s home life is in shambles as her parents continually fight. There are instances when Quinn is told by her father to essentially be careful and mindful about what she does – that their family cannot deal with any more mistakes. At some points, Cora also yells some pretty terrible things at Quinn as she (Cora) never considers at any point during the story what Quinn might be going through as well.
Approaching a story and subject matter such as this can be tricky. Unfortunately, I think elements were really left out that could have given a more cohesive story of both perspectives. Additionally, readers will find in the author’s note, as well as through a teacher trying to help Quinn, and in the home life dynamics that guns are seen as the enemy here and that somehow the fact that Quinn’s father had guns (supposedly only for fun) is what caused the school shooting. Warga hints that there were changes in Parker’s behavior and that his parents seemed to have ignored it, but the focus doesn’t land there, it lands on the guns and a call to somehow deal with gun violence. To be fair, Warga doesn’t call for gun control measures in the book and acknowledges that the issue is “multipronged” (278). A deeper focus on Parker would have created a wider lens with which to view this issue and explore it in a more “multipronged” approach.
Other notable bits of information from the novel:
Cora’s mother left when she was two years old. It isn’t known if she even knows that her daughter Mabel is dead (14).
Cora talks periodically about her feelings for Owen and her crush on him. At one point Cora mentions about her sister asking her about a crush and states “She always made it clear that she’d be cool with me liking anyone, regardless of gender, but I could never come up with a single name” (42 Cora).
Cora and Quinn are planning to time travel to go back and stop what happened. The story is built around this desire.
In regards to this, Quinn says “I am looking for Parker from before, the person he was when we were younger, the person I want to save. My brother does not deserve to be saved after what he did, but I can’t help wanting to save him anyway” (28 Quinn). This is one example of the tension Quinn feels throughout the story. From a Biblical Worldview, it is certainly one to address that while people are living there isn’t anyone so far out of God’s reach and salvation.
Mention of being like a witch, casting spells (29 Quinn).
“It is a tree with history. And history is the past and the past is a monster lurking in the shadows. That monster is big and mean and scary and I don’t want to face it” (29 Quinn).
“I keep hoping that if I do everything as perfectly as I can, the universe is going to reward me with a wormhole” (39 Quinn).
Cora is part Lebanese and this is an added side piece of the story where there is a question about Parker trying to attack Muslims, even though Cora is not a practicing Muslim and based on the friendship ties of Cora and Quinn, Parker would have known details like that. However, it is just speculation about Parker, nothing definitive is ever brought up. Cora then wants to learn how to speak Arabic and has questions that her father answers when Cora finally brings it up. Warga had a lot of side developments within Cora’s character with her identity regarding her heritage, a crush, friendships, grief with her sister, family dynamics, etc. It ultimately felt like too much and seemed as though she was trying to make sure that somehow she hit so many touch points with Cora’s character, meanwhile Quinn is left undeveloped in many critical ways that would have benefited the story. Nevertheless, some quotes related to her heritage:
“I can’t decide if it’s worse when people totally forget about that part of my identity or when people make assumptions about it. Both of them feel like losing. I hate losing” (66 Cora).
“So who is Quinn to say what we are or what we aren’t? I don’t like when people say that because it makes me feel like they’re telling me I’m not the kind of Muslim they’re scared of. Life if I was more obviously religious, they’d have a problem with me. And that’s all kinds of messed up. It’s not fair that other people get to decide how much of something I am.
It’s also messed up that when white boys like Parker commit a violent crime, everyone tries to figure out why they did it. Me included. But when a Black or brown kid does something like that, no one asks more questions. It’s like they expected it of them or something” (119 Cora).
“But can’t we be Arab and American? Like you” (170 Cora).
“I’m going to make things better,” I whisper. Mom doesn’t hear me, but I really hope the universe does” (74 Quinn).
“When I whisper their names, I visualize sending comfort to their families[...]I force myself to think about everything their families have lost because of Parker [...]” (108 Quinn).
“I know Mrs. Martinez died because she approached Parker. Mrs. Martinez was the last person to die before Parker took his own life” (109 Quinn).
“Mrs. Euclid pulls away from me [...] ‘Quinn, I need you to listen to me again. None of what happened is your responsibility to fix it. It’s my responsibility [...] And it’s the responsibility of other adults. We’ve created a world that is unsafe for you kids. And it’s our job to stand up and figure out how to protect you’” (191 Quinn).
Gram says once “And I’ll be damned if I let you be robbed of this moment” (227 Cora).
Overall, I liked the different perspectives given in this book, but Cora’s inability to see things from Quinn’s perspective and the abuse/neglect that Quinn experiences throughout the book left me unsatisfied with the story and not one I would likely recommend.
