48 pages • 1-hour read
The List of Things That Will Not Change
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Chapters 1-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “The Sound of Corn”
Content Warning: This guide and its source material addresses LGTBQ+ and anti-gay discrimination and bias.
Bea tells the story of her parents’ divorce and her father’s remarriage to a man named Jesse. She begins with an anecdote about her father and his brother Frank, who would go into their corn field as children and listen to the corn grow. Both of them swore they could hear it squeak as it reached toward the sun. Bea says this story explains a lot about her father and his second wedding day, but she informs the reader that she needs to tell the whole story for that to make sense. Her parents’ divorce took place when she was eight, and her father remarried when she was 10. Now, at age 12, Bea considers herself a different person than she was then. The story addresses all three time periods, as well as some additional childhood memories, as Bea assembles her recollections for the reader. Bea acknowledges later, in Chapter 8, the quick timeline shifts and merging memories that may disorient the reader or cause the stories to overlap at times.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Angelica”
Bea recalls when her parents first told her they were getting divorced and flashes back to this time, when she was eight years old. They gave her a green notebook and pen with a list inside entitled, “Things That Will Not Change” (5). It began with the promise that both of her parents would always love her, as well as each other, and that she would always have a home with them both. Bea started adding to the list herself, including the fact that her cat would live with her mom. She had to adjust to a new schedule where she lived in two houses and moved from place to place, alternating each day. Bea remembers how summers at her family lake cabin changed after her parents divorced. Her mother was no longer there, and her cousins started to make fun of her for being part of a divorced family, calling her “Ping Pong.” Bea’s cousin Angela fell from the cabin loft and just barely missed the wood stove, which could have killed her. It is implied that this was a significant event that Bea might have had a bigger role in.
Chapter 3 Summary: “News”
Presently, Bea likes to dance privately in her room with her headphones on, but she dances differently at her mother’s house compared to her father’s house. Bea finds that many rules are different at each place, as well as values and expectations. For example, her parents don’t even agree on how high of a fever constitutes the need to stay home.
She remembers how, in the past, her dad would have her practice spelling even when she was sick, and she felt like she never really got any better at it. Her dad had starting seeing a new partner at this time, Jesse. Her babysitter and Jesse’s sister, Sheila, used to pick her up from school and take her to her father’s house. Bea used to watch Star Trek with Sheila and recalls how her best friend Angus hated when she would be home sick. When Bea’s dad told her he and Jesse were going to get married, Bea liked the idea of having Jesse around forever, and added it to her list.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Jesse”
After the divorce and despite her dad’s efforts to make his new apartment feel like home, Bea struggled to feel entirely at ease in the new place initially. Bea often woke up in the night feeling anxious and out of place when she stayed there. She would go into her dad’s room and roll out a sleeping bag and sleep next to him on the floor.
When Jesse moved in, Bea was 10, and his sister Sheila stopped babysitting and started coming over just to spend time with the family. Jesse and Bea enjoyed having double-sided toast together, and Bea loved how quickly Jesse became attached to their dog, Rocco.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Magic”
When Bea heard about the wedding, she woke up constantly, itching from her eczema condition. She held her hands under hot water, knowing it would worsen the condition but looking for temporary relief.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Happiness”
During the same time period, after Bea found out about the engagement, Bea’s dad insisted that her mom was happy about the news, but Bea wasn’t so sure.
Bea remembers how she once stole a can of root beer from a peer named Lizette in second grade in order to appear cool in front of her classmates. Bea was caught and felt humiliated and ashamed, but she and Lizette eventually made up. On the way to school one day, Lizette caught up with Bea and noticed she didn’t have her package of heavy cream to make butter for the class colonial breakfast. Bea forgot because the reminder was at her mom’s house, and she had stayed at her dad’s. Lizette suggested they buy some, and solving the problem left Bea with an emotional high. The result was a reckless impulse to kick a piece of broken glass, causing her to cut her foot open.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Practice Butter”
In recent years and presently, Bea often hangs out at her dad’s restaurant, which is named Beatrice, after her. Jesse also works there, handling customers and the general operations.
Leading up to her father’s marriage to Jesse, the plan for the wedding was to have it at the restaurant, and Bea had lots of questions for Jesse about how that would all unfold. They decided to practice making butter from scratch together and had the best pumpernickel toast and butter that Bea could ever remember.
Bea remembers when her mom came to the restaurant. Bea asked her about the wedding, and while her mom seemed happy, Bea could sense a sadness underneath—a sadness that she also felt herself.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Miriam”
Bea reflects on the challenges of telling stories. She notes that her storytelling may at times be confusing since she has to shift between ages eight and 10 often.
Bea started seeing her therapist Miriam after her parents’ divorce, and at first was resistant to the idea. She was quiet during the first session but appreciated Miriam’s honesty. Her parents and Miriam used gummy bears to reward Bea for attending sessions.
Chapter 9 Summary: “A Different Way”
When Bea went to see Miriam after her dad announced the wedding plans, Miriam admitted she already knew about it and was curious to hear Bea’s thoughts. Bea confessed she was happy but worried about her mom, who she perceived to be sad in some way. Miriam tried to explain that the love between Bea’s parents is more of a friendship now, and that Bea’s mom is likely happy for her dad more than anything.
Bea remembers a Halloween party she attended in third grade. When the kids played musical chairs, Bea got anxious about being the one left standing, and ended up pushing Angus out of his chair. When Bea’s mother was called, the host of the party said that Bea was problematic and needed some sort of help. As they left, Bea threw her party favors at the wall.
When she told Miriam about this in therapy, Miriam noted that anger is okay but that it needs to be expressed in healthy ways. She told Bea she was not a bad person for what she did and urged her to try to think “two steps ahead” (43) before acting. Bea felt accepted and understood by Miriam and began to trust her after that.
Chapter 10 Summary: “Box!”
Ever since her father moved out, he often surprises Bea and her mother with food from the restaurant by leaving it in the fridge. When Bea or her mother find one of these food boxes, they yell “Box!” and know they’re going to have a good supper.
One night, during the period after the divorce, Bea’s friend Lizette came over for supper, and afterward, she and Bea talked. Lizette pointed out how lucky Bea was to have parents that still got along, as she knew someone whose divorced parents seemed to hate one another. When Bea asked her mom if she was coming to the wedding, Bea’s mom appeared unsure, but Bea insisted that she be there.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Drop Everything and Worry”
Bea tells the story of how Bea’s dad and Jesse originally met. Bea’s dad choked on an orange, and Jesse happened to be cat-sitting in the neighbor’s apartment. Bea’s dad banged on his door, and Jesse saved Bea’s dad. Bea cried and screamed the whole time, including afterward, and following the incident, began to worry about herself or her loved ones dying. The incident changed Bea’s dad, too, because it made him realize life is short and that he should live it in accordance with his true self.
That was when he decided to divorce Bea’s mom and come out as gay, and when he fell in love with Jesse. Bea’s worrying about death was quelled by a strategy that Miriam gave her, in which she was instructed to set aside five minutes twice a day to worry, and not allow it any other time. Bea finds the strategy effective in keeping her worries at bay.
Chapters 1-11 Analysis
Bea’s narrative, which she tells in retrospect, centers around the major changes that took place in her life between ages eight and 10. Because of her age, Bea speculates about her parents’ thoughts and intentions at times, and she does not know the full inner workings of their relationship. Bea is also upfront about her potential shortcomings as a narrator in other ways. She admits that telling the story of her own past is confusing because she is always remembering things that need to be added for further clarity. Bea is learning about herself and identifying the meaning behind her own memories as she divulges them. Moments in the story seem disjointed, such as when various early childhood memories are intertwined, and timelines alternate unpredictably. This storytelling style reflects Bea’s age and her association-like organization, but it also gives readers the opportunity to draw connections between correlating events of the different timelines and discover meaning beyond Bea’s immediate awareness.
With clear intentionality, Bea begins her story with an anecdote about her dad and Uncle Frank when they were children and were the only ones who could hear the corn grow. Bea does not explain the reason for starting her story this way until the very last page of the novel, but she does give clues. Bea notes that her dad and Uncle Frank are polar opposites, and yet shared so much. Her dad’s childhood story becomes a representation of The Stability of Unconditional Love in Families, which becomes a throughline in the novel as Bea discovers the difference between conditional and unconditional love.
The Effects of Parental Divorce in Childhood are numerous and varied, but Bea’s story is relatable because of her honesty and her willingness to admit her flawed response to the changes. Some of her reactions are defensive, as she gets teased both for the fact that her parents are divorced and because her dad is gay, and her own cousins are often the ones doing the teasing (i.e., calling Bea “Ping Pong”). During this period of adjustment, Bea misses her mother and sees reminders of her everywhere, and feels split between two worlds, two sets of rules, and two families. Still, moving to her dad’s new apartment, watching her mother grieve the marriage, and handling her own emotions becomes cumbersome. Bea’s character arc involves her growth toward healthy coping and understanding in tough situations such as these.
Bea experiences anxiety because of the divorce and all the changes taking place in her life, and because she sometimes loses control of her emotions and lashes out. She carries guilt for many of her past acts even though others have forgiven her for them, but her biggest regret is one she cannot even bear to reveal to the reader until much later—pushing Angelica off the loft. Bea does not cite her eczema as a symptom of her emotional state, but her itching always seems to get worse when something bad happens or when she’s more worried than usual. Bea calls herself a “worrier” (23) and lacks strategies to deal with her worrying until she meets Miriam. Miriam teaches Bea about The Relationship Between Mental Health, Behavior, and Emotions. Bea learns about the feelings behind her actions, and the feelings behind those feelings. She learns to think before acting. Bea’s positive emotions can sometimes get ahead of her as well, such as when she cut her foot: “When my happiness makes me feel huge, it’s almost like nothing can hurt me. But I was wearing sandals, and the glass cut my foot” (29). By learning to understand herself, Bea also eventually learns to forgive her own past mistakes. Since Miriam is forgiving and empathetic, Bea adopts those same qualities.
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