Short

Explore the history of casting actors with physical differences in stage plays and musicals. How does Short contribute to the larger conversation around ableism in the theater?

Short is written in first-person perspective. How does this impact the reader’s experience or develop the work’s themes?

Consider how romance is represented and explored in the novel. What does the novel communicate about romantic attraction and coming-of-age? How is attraction connected or disconnected from identity in the novel?

Julia’s exact age is never revealed. What effect does this omission have on the reader? On thematic development? On the plot?

Julia develops several key adult relationships in the novel. Explore how her relationship to her mother, Olive, Shawn Barr, or Mrs. Chang develops or changes over the course of the plot. What larger truth about child-parent and child-mentor relationships is conveyed through these characters?

How does the author foreshadow Julia’s desire to become a director and a writer, as she tells Shawn Barr at the end of the novel?

Like many middle-grade novels centering on loss, Short involves the death of a pet. However, when Julia mentions Ramon’s death to Mrs. Chang, her immediate response is to feel guilty for “comparing” the death of an animal to the death of a person. How does Short ultimately portray grief over the loss of a pet?

Consider Julia and Shawn Barr’s comments about the purpose of art. How do those comments apply to Short itself as a novel?