The first theme Larson advances in What I Know Now is that of change and the confusion it often causes. The novel begins during a summer of change, with Dave and his mother leaving their ranch and their life with Dave's cold and abusive father and moving to Home Place, where they begin to build a new life. Dave's physical circumstances are changing, but his emotions are changing too; they are in a tangle, much like the weeds he and his mother find when they arrive at their new home. Dave feels confused and alone, and he longs to make sense of the world around him. He struggles that summer with his sexuality, but more significantly with his sense of self worth and the feelings of failure he has over his family's breakup. Larson reveals in the prologue that by the end of the...