Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything: A Memoir

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Discuss your overall impressions of Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything. What were your favorite and least favorite aspects of the memoir, and why?

2. How did your experience reading Alyson Stoner’s memoir compare and contrast with your experience reading other celebrity memoirs, such as Jeannette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died (2022), Brooke Shields’s There Was a Little Girl (2014), or Matthew Perry’s Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing (2022)?

3. How did your impressions of Stoner evolve during and after reading their memoir? Which aspects of their personal account were most surprising in light of Stoner’s public image, and why?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Stoner recounts how spending time with their father reframed their understanding of LuAnne and their relationship. Have you found that your understanding of a parent has shifted as you’ve aged?

2. The memoir explores the importance of recovery and healing. How do Stoner’s explorations of mental health relate to your own self-care journey? What new insights could Stoner’s story offer you?

3. How does Stoner’s self-discovery journey resonate with your own? Did you experience cultural pressures analogous to those Stoner experienced in Hollywood or at church when you were growing up? How did you navigate them?

4. Compare and contrast Stoner’s dating experiences with your own romantic experiences. Which aspects of Stoner’s love life were least or most relatable, and why?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Stoner’s memoir exposes the hazards of working in the entertainment industry as a child. Based on their memoir, what policies or interventions could help curb abuse of child stars?

2. Stoner discusses their sexual and romantic awakening on the page. How do such depictions create awareness and acceptance for queer youth? To what extent do queer authors (or authors coming from other marginalized communities) have a responsibility to open up about their lives in this way?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Stoner alternates between channeling their inner monologue as events unfolded and reflecting retroactively on their experiences. What effect did this have on you as a reader? Do you think this was intentional?

2. How does Stoner represent key figures like their mother, father, stepfather, and sisters? How did these figures influence Stoner’s evolving self-regard?

3. Consider Stoner’s depiction of acting as a child. Does the memoir suggest that it was simply the Hollywood environment that made this work problematic, or is there something about acting itself that requires an emotional and psychological maturity children haven’t yet developed?

4. Both the flipper and the nose job involve artificially changing Stoner’s appearance, but Stoner discusses them in very different terms. What do you think accounts for this?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Imagine that you are adapting Stoner’s memoir into a documentary film. Which key figures would you interview? Which acting or performing successes from Stoner’s career would you feature? How would you structure the film, and how would Stoner’s first-person perspective factor into your work?

2. Create a playlist that represents Stoner’s Journey Toward Recovery and Healing. Consider which songs might represent Stoner’s challenges and which would represent their revelations and growth. Share your playlists and discuss the reasoning behind each song.