Chagrin Falls, Ohio

Chagrin Falls, Ohio, is Ever Wong’s hometown and the starting point of the novel’s central departure. In its family house and on the high-school field, the routines she has shared with Megan meet the news that will take her to Taiwan, making the town both a concrete home and the threshold of a life she has not chosen for herself.

Home and Setting

The opening is dated June 5 in Chagrin Falls. At the Wong family house, an envelope from Northwestern University arrives through the mail slot, its purple insignia prompting Ever to hurry down the stairs. The letter represents a future she has pursued, but she hides it when her mother appears from the kitchen with news of her own: the family has applied for Ever to go to Taiwan.

The house frames the tension between Ever’s private hopes and her family’s plans. She conceals the letter behind her back, while her mother, still carrying a printout from the church, notices that Ever is wearing makeup. Even small acts of self-presentation feel vulnerable to scrutiny; Ever had intended to apply lip gloss only after she was down the block.

Dance and Everyday Life

Outside the house, the high-school field holds a familiar world. Ever jogs there beneath storm clouds described as remnants of a typhoon in Asia. A soccer game pits Chagrin Falls’s orange jerseys against the blue uniforms of rival Solon, but Ever’s attention is on Megan, her best friend since kindergarten.

Megan is beside her Camry, unloading the black-and-gold flags for their group. She is already dressed in the black leotard and matching skirt worn by their dance squad and flag corps. Ever feels envy of Megan’s dancer’s body, yet accepts the exposed costume as part of dancing, a price she is willing to pay. The moment locates their friendship in a shared practice that reaches back to Zeigler’s Ballet Studio and continues through high school.

Departure and Significance

The town’s routines cannot hold Ever in place. After the prospect of leaving has stirred hope and then disappointment, she tells Megan she will have to find her passport and heads for the car. The passport turns the choice into an immediate practical task: Ever is to make a flight that afternoon, even as she feels she is leaving her heart behind.

Chagrin Falls thus marks the point of departure rather than a resolved homecoming. The family house contains the competing plans that shape Ever’s future; the field gathers the friendships and dancing she has made her own. From this Ohio setting, the story moves toward Taiwan, carrying the unresolved conflict between her family’s expectations and the life she wants.