Arts Magnate High School

The arts magnate high school is one of the settings in "Thoughts and Prayers." This is the school Shruti attends, and where she studies music. One day, a violent teenager storms the school with a gun. He murders many students, but kills Shruti for refusing him romantically. Shruti's body is found slung over her cello in a practice room.

This horrific scene inspires the story's central conflicts and thematic explorations.

Sorrow Lake

The lake of sorrows is one of the key settings in "The Stones of Sorrow Lake." When the narrator and Jackson first drive into town, Jackson identifies the lake for the narrator. The lake is the place each of the townspeople must drop their sorrow stones. The stones can only free themselves from the townspeople's bodies when they have the chance to roll into the water. After the narrator's stone forms on her...