L.A. Weather

The common cultural perception of Los Angeles often involves Hollywood stars, sunny skies, and Kardashian-esque image obsession and material aspiration. How would you describe the Alvarados’ Los Angeles? What does Los Angeles represent to you?

LA Weather takes place in 2016, before the pandemic. How do you think the Alvarados would have fared during the pandemic? Would they have quarantined together in harmony or ridden the pandemic out separately?

Family is extremely important to the Alvarados. How are their lives shaped by familial duty and expectation? What do they each sacrifice for their families?

The Alvarados face many challenges in LA Weather. Which situation seemed the most challenging to you? What would you have done instead?

Discuss Keila and Oscar’s relationship. Do you think she did the right thing? Do you think she made the right decision regarding Simon?

Discuss all three sisters’ relationships. How do you think each sister grows over time and how does the relationship with their significant other change them?

Together, the Alvarados inhabit many different kinds of family structures, including the nuclear family, multigenerational living, single parenting, long-distance marriages, surrogacy, and more. Why do you think it was important for the author to show so many of the different forms that family can take? What did you take away from your exploration of family ties in this novel?

Oscar and Keila have an interfaith marriage, raising their daughters in both religions (Catholic and Jewish). How have they integrated their religions? What do you think the author meant to illustrate?

Oscar is suffering from an acute case of climate anxiety. How do the other characters deal with California’s (and the world’s) changing climate, particularly wildfires?

Oscar keeps the ownership of the almond orchard a secret and this affects the familial dynamics. How does this secret affect each member of the Alvarado family? Why do you think Oscar won’t come clean to Keila and his daughters? What do you think is the underlying feeling that keeps people from revealing their secrets?

Lola takes issue with Olivia’s architecture and house-flipping projects that are taking over L.A. neighborhoods. How is gentrification portrayed in the novel?

Lola and Olivia watch telenovelas together. What parts of LA Weather pay homage to telenovelas?

Keila has a complicated relationship with motherhood. What are some of the differences in the way she was raised and how she is expected to raise her daughters?

Food is very important to the Alvarado family and Claudia in particular, and they often have family meetings around meals. How does the author use food to explore the family’s mixed cultural heritage?

Throughout the book, Patricia’s teenage child, Dani, is exploring their evolving relationship with gender and identity. What did you take away from Dani’s experience?

The Alvarado sisters are quite close knit and very different. Contrast these three women: What do they have in common, and how are they different? How do the Alvarado sisters show their care and affection towards each other? Would you do the same for a sibling, friend, or family member?