Tell Me Three Things Themes

Tell Me Three Things introduces readers to 16-year-old Jessie, whose mom died tragically of cancer about two years ago. In the month before the novel begins, Jessie was surprised to learn that her Dad met someone and secretly got married in Hawaii—so within the space of a few months, she and Dad moved from Chicago to Los Angeles to move in with her new stepmom, Rachel, and her stepbrother, Theo, who’s Jessie’s…

Sixteen-year-old Jessie and her female friends are all extremely interested in sex and intimacy. Several of them are becoming sexually active for the first time, while others, including Jessie, fear in-person intimacy and instead turn to the internet for a different kind of intimacy by communicating with others over an instant messaging program. Overwhelmingly, the novel positions this interest in intimacy as something normal and expected of teens, as it signals their budding maturity. It…

When 16-year-old Jessie’s Dad remarries, they move cross-country and start over in Los Angeles in her stepmother, Rachel’s, house, which is huge, entirely white, and impeccably kept. This experience forces Jessie to consider what it really means for someone to be home. For much of the novel, Jessie believes that moving back to Chicago will mean that she’s home again, but a surprise weekend trip to Chicago impresses upon her that this isn’t…

After 16-year-old Jessie’s Dad remarries and they move to Los Angeles to live with Jessie’s stepmom, Rachel, and stepbrother, Theo, one thing that’s majorly lacking in Jessie’s new life from the start is a friend. Though Jessie constantly texts Scarlett, her best friend from Chicago, she recognizes that Scarlett is no real replacement for in-person friends—ones that understand the specific pressures she’s under at Wood Valley High School. Then, a few…