We Are All Made of Molecules

We Are All Made of Molecules (May 2015) is by young adult and middle-grade author Susin Nielsen. Nielsen spent many years as a scriptwriter for Canadian television shows, including Degrassi Junior High. Her writing focuses humorously on the trials and tribulations of being a teenager. Like the characters in We Are All Made of Molecules, Nielsen lives in Vancouver, Canada. Her other titles include Word Nerd (2010), Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom (2010), The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen (2012), Optimists Die First (2017), No Fixed Address (2018), and Tremendous Things (2021).

We Are All Made of Molecules was nominated for both the George Peach Book Award for Teen Readers and the Pacific Northwest Young Reader’s Choice Award. The book falls into the categories of Teen & Young Adult Stepfamily Fiction and Children’s Blended Families Books and is intended for readers aged 12 years and up. This study guide and its page citations are based on the Kindle edition of the book.

The novel concerns the efforts of teenage step-siblings Stewart and Ashley to navigate their differences, as Ashley learns to appreciate people like the smart but less-popular Stewart. A kind heart matters more, and as Stewart frequently points out, everyone is made of molecules. In the process of depicting differences between Stewart’s view of the world and Ashley’s, the novel examines the themes of an Exclusionary Social Hierarchy at school, Stewart’s theory about Inclusive Molecules, and the way adapting to a new home environment changes the Shape of a Family.

Content Warning: We Are All Made of Molecules depicts instances of sexual assault and contains strong language. This guide obscures the quotation of one anti-gay slur original to the text.

Plot Summary

The novel takes place during contemporary times during the fall and winter of a single year in Vancouver, Canada. The story is told using first-person narration from the dual perspectives of 13-year-old Stewart Inkster and 14-year-old Ashley Anderson. The novel’s chapters alternate between Stewart and Ashley’s narration. The two teens often describe the same events but give wildly different interpretations of what happened.

We Are All Made of Molecules begins with Stewart Inkster and his father Leonard coping with the unexpected death of Mrs. Inkster, his mother. Stewart always wanted a sister, but this now seems impossible after his mother’s death. They have been mourning for two years when Leonard agrees that he and his son Stewart should move in with his girlfriend, Caroline Anderson. Caroline has a teenage daughter named Ashley, who is less than thrilled to have a stepbrother like Stewart. The children of these two adults could not be more different. Stewart is intellectually gifted and attends a school for geniuses. He is short and is classified as a nerd because of his interest in math and science.

In contrast, Ashley is attractive and fiercely devoted to fashion. She isn’t a particularly good student but commands the in-crowd at her high school. Ashley is vigilant about maintaining social superiority among her peers, and Stewart’s arrival is an embarrassment. Ashley is equally embarrassed that her parents’ divorce was prompted by her father’s disclosure that he is gay. To make matters worse, Phil Anderson, Ashley’s dad, has chosen to live in the little laneway house at the back of the Anderson property. Ashley is mortified and tries to hide that her father is gay to avoid gossip at school.

Stewart tries to settle into his new home and school, but Ashley’s hostility makes that difficult. Ashley is appalled to find Stewart performing a daily ritual in which he sits beneath an afghan that once belonged to his deceased mother. He explains that he is breathing in his mother’s molecules as a way of feeling close to her. He points out that everyone is made of molecules and that all people are connected. Ashley finds the theory ridiculous and continues to ignore Stewart whenever possible.

Eventually, Stewart cultivates the friendship of two intelligent girls at school who invite him to join the Mathletes club. Ashley does her best to avoid Stewart and her own father. Stewart’s only remaining problem at school is a bully named Jared, who harasses him after gym class. Jared’s attitude changes dramatically when he finds out that Stewart is Ashley’s stepbrother. He then goes out of his way to protect Stewart and gets him appointed as the bulldog mascot for the school’s basketball team. Stewart obligingly passes messages between Jared and Ashley, which helps to melt Ashley’s hostility toward him, too.

Ashley starts dating Jared because he is considered the most handsome boy at school. His family is also rich, and Ashley is impressed by his material possessions and stylish clothes. These superficial qualities mask Jared’s cruelty. He was kicked out of his previous school for beating up a gay student. At a later point in the novel, he tries to rape Ashley before the housekeeper’s arrival stops him. Ashley refuses to see Jared’s true nature until he gets her drunk at a New Year’s Eve party and tries to take nude photos of her.

Stewart averts catastrophe by stealing Jared’s phone and destroying it. He later humiliates Jared during a basketball game by pulling down his underwear. Jared threatens reprisal, but Stewart has allies who want to protect him. The school’s other outcasts rally to his defense. A humbled Ashley allies herself with them to help Stewart. Together they create protection squads to escort him to his classes and keep Jared at bay. Eventually, many more people volunteer for the squads, and protection is extended to everyone who gets bullied at school. Ashley designs t-shirts for the squad, and each one is stamped with the motto, “We Are All Made of Molecules.” She has finally learned the lesson of inclusiveness that Stewart was trying to teach her.