It took me several chapters and a few reading sessions to really fall into the plot of this novel. I struggled to even identify if Aza was a female or male for quite a bit of the novel. This novel was not a favorite of mine, but once I was immersed in the plot, I had a hard time putting the book down.

The mental illness that the main character was struggling with seemed very real, and Green did an excellent job in illustrating what it could possibly look like as a high school student attempting to navigate teen life while also trying to keep a veil over intense thought spirals, anxiety, and obsessions. I also really liked that at the end of the novel Green included contact information for readers who might need mental health services.

I would recommend this novel to more mature readers, possibly high school aged.

This novel is full of rich quotes, although most of them are from Shakespeare and Dickinson. I would suggest possibly pulling a quote used in the novel and pairing it with what the characters are experiencing at that moment in the plot, then I would ask students to try to identify a connection to the quote and how the character might possibly be feeling.

An example would be using the Jacqueline Woodson quote on pg 186, Even the silence/ has a story to tell you. (p 186). I would re-read the paragraphs prior to the quote and remind students that Davis just overheard his younger brother crying in his room, and it has been fourteen days since Russell Pickett disappeared. I would ask students to discuss why or how this quote is significant in this moment for Davis and possibly Aza.

Another extension activity could be examining the origin of the title, Turtles All The Way Down, then discussing if it suits the novel. The novel makes mention of it on page 244, but perhaps a deeper discussion could be beneficial as well. This is a link to a Wikipedia article about the phrase. I wouldn't necessarily share this article with students, but it could be a nice resource for a facilitator to reference prior to leading a discussion.

The phrase is usually used to describe any system that appears to have dependencies that never end. After an explanation of the phrase has been thoroughly dissected, students could be asked to reflect on the novel and form opinions of whether the phrase suits the novel, and why or why not.

This is a link to a forum of sorts where readers are sharing their favorite quotes from the novel.

This is a video of John Green reading Chapter 1 from Turtles All The Way Down.