When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.
Literary and Philosophical References
- Gospel of John (1.How I Came To Life.5)
- The Hobbit (1.Padawan.40-42)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1.The Cheese Touch.5; 4.Sides.15)
- War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy (2.The Padawan Bites the Dust.11; 2.Breakfast.26, 36; 2.Out with the Old.3)
- The Little Prince, Antoine Saint-Exupery (4.Epigraph)
- The Elephant Man, Bernard Pomerance (5.Epigraph; 7.School.5)
- Our Town, Thornton Wilder (5.Our Town.1; 6.Understudy.32; 7.School.6)
- Hamlet, Shakespeare (6.Epigraph)
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis (8.Packing.46; 8.Sleep.1)
- The Little White Bird, J.M. Barrie (8.A Simple Thing.13)
- Under the Eye of the Clock, Christopher Nolan (8.A Simple Thing.16)
Historical References
- Henry Ward Beecher (8.Awards.9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16)
Pop Culture References
- "Wonder," Natalie Merchant (Book Epigraph)
- Star Wars (throughout the book)
- "Space Oddity," David Bowie (2.Epigraph; 2.Major Tom.1; 8.The Emperor's Guard.13)
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (2.High School.5)
- "Beautiful," Christina Aguilera (3.Epigraph)
- "Beautiful Things," Andain (7.Epigraph)
- "Beautiful Child," Eurythmics (8.Epigraph)
- The Sound of Music (8.Be Kind to Nature.2; 8.Home.12)
- Lord of the Rings (8.Alien.11)
- "Follow the Day and Reach for the Sun," The Polyphonic Spree (8.The Last Precept.1)
- "The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side," The Magnetic Fields (8.The Drop-Off.2, 4, 10, 25, 46)