Turtles All The Way Down Book Talk

Aza Holmes

Turtles centres around Aza, a 16 year old girl struggling with severe anxiety and OCD. She is very introverted, but loves to spend time with her best friend Daisy. However, her illness is sometimes so severe she finds herself disconnecting from the people around her, including Daisy. Throughout the novel, readers will follow Aza along her journey as she realizes the damage her mental illness is causing, not only to herself, but the ones she cares about the most.

Daisy

Daisy is Aza's loving, and fanfiction fanatic best friend. She is pretty much famous for writing Reybacha (Rey & Chewbacca) stories online, and is a gigantic Star Wars Fan. She reluctantly works at Chuckie Cheese's, and often draws the short stick to wear the Chuckie costume. Her and Aza's favourite hangout spot is Applebee's, where they use up Aza's mom's 2 burgers for $11 coupons and online stalk people (relatable). John captures her adventurous and hilarious spirit so beautifully within this book.

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on." -Robert Frost

Davis Pickett

Davis is the oldest son of Russell Pickett, and Aza's love interest throughout the book. A certified (by me) hot nerd, Davis is a kind, hopeful and genuine guy. He writes a very philosophical blog, choosing a quote that relates to the things going on in his life at that time. Davis is also fascinated by space, owning a telescope, has several space movies, and is a frequent viewer of the stars.

Indianapolis

Aza lives in Indianapolis, Indiana and the simplicity of the setting is perfect for Aza's story. She lives on the low side of the river, where her basement often floods. One of her favourite views in her backyard is looking up at the sky through the branches of trees. It's not a perfect view, but fractured...similar to her mind. Also, her Dad often took pictures of that view on his phone. The setting that takes centre stage in this novel however, is Aza's mind itself.

Pickett Estate

Aza first reconnects with Davis at his lavish estate, initially looking for clues of his father's location. But eventually, their relationship grows and falters here too. Whether they be laying in a sandtrap of the golf course stargazing, watching a space movie in the home theatre, or going for a dip in the (heated) pool. Aza also bonds with Davis' younger brother Noah here, as she understands the hurt he has felt since his Dad left.

"It's Turtles All The f*cking way down, Holmesy. You're trying to find the turtle at the bottom of the pile, but that's not how it works" -John Green

Turtles All The Way Down

Daisy is telling Aza a story her mom told her about a scientist explaining the history of the Earth to a room of people. Then, a women says "That's all fine and good Mr. Scientist, but the truth is, the earth is a flat plane resting on the back of a giant turtle". They begin to argue as the scientist asks, well what is underneath that turtle? But the woman says "Sir, you don't understand. It's turtles all the way down." Then Daisy says the above quote. And it is the perfect analogy for Aza's mind. She constantly falls deeper and deeper into these thought spirals, but she's never going to be satisfied by what she finds! There will never be an end to each spiral, and she has to learn that. Although her anxiety will never fully go away, this quote by Daisy is exactly what Aza needed to hear in one of the lowest points of her life.

"You remember your first love because they show you, prove to you, that you can love and be loved, that nothing in this world is deserved except for love, that love is both how you become a person, and why." -John Green

First Love

This quote has alot of significance and meaning to Aza's journey. As she falls in love and loses that love too, she begins to realize that it is "not a burden, but a gift". When she first began to connect with Davis, she struggled to even hold his hand. But by the end of the novel, Aza has a better grip on her illness and understands how important that love was to her. Although she may not end up with her first love, Aza learned more things about herself and caring for others throughout the pairs' relationship, and will likely be a better partner to someone in the future because of it. Davis helped Aza realize that her anxiety isn't out of her control, and appreciated, admired and respected her. They grew, hurt and loved beside each other throughout this novel. Yet, after their flame burnt out, life still went on.

1. Clearly by Grace VanderWaal

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This song perfectly depicts Aza's journey throughout the novel. At the start of the song, Grace is in a bad place. "Close the curtains, cut the lights; to match the darkness in my mind" tells of her troubled mental health, and the lyric "It's gonna take me down" shows how she has given up on herself. Aza was exactly like this at the beginning of the novel. So lost within her own mind that she didn't know what to do. But then Aza, and Grace, find clarity and comfort in themselves. "I can see clearly now" and "I accept all the things that I cannot change" show that although Aza will never be fully rid of her anxiety, she has a handle on it and she knows that every day is a new day. Also, the lyric "I'm gonna make it out" represents that Aza will make it out of those endless spirals of thought, and that she can move on from her past struggles to better days!

2. I Don't Know My Name by Grace VanderWaal

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I know, I know. Another Grace song! But they represent this book so wonderfully. This song touches on the theme of self-identity and how Aza is struggling to find herself in her times of hardship. "I'm trying to find my way" is a lyric everyone can relate to. As Aza goes on her journey throughout this novel, we see her fighting her mental illness, but also trying to figure out who she is. My favourite lyric however is "I am lost, trying to get found: in an ocean of, people". This lyric represents Aza in that she is trying to find herself not in a mass of people, but an ocean of her thoughts.