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.