Honesty, Integrity, and Healthy Boundaries, common themes throughout this story, are very important values needed to develop a healthy, functional family, upon which, all were grossly lacking in the characters, with the probable exception of the Yang's (notwithstanding Robby). Without these values intact, everything fails, everyone loses. Is their Hope?...yes there is. In the end Max was lifted only to find hope and reconciliation through, of all things, the life cycle of a rare camukra flower. Our bookclub was surprised there were no reviews stating Max experienced a very "unhealthy" coming-of-age experience. We agreed Lifted By The Great Nothing was difficult and graphic at times but presented an opportunity for an educational discussion on child safety. We would caution readers to the controversial and illegal behaviors of some of the characters triggering emotions for some. We gave it a 3.0 due to the content.