A year can mean lots of different things, and in The Year of Billy Miller, we're operating on the school calendar, covering fall through spring with a nice summer vacation in between. Oh, and there's also the Chinese New Year calendar in this book, which revolves around something else entirely: the moon. No matter how we choose to measure time, though, in this book lots can change as it marches on.
Questions About Time
- How are the seasons represented? Are the passing seasons portrayed positively or negatively? How so?
- What changes over time in The Year of Billy Miller? And what stays the same?
- Why does the idea of years matter so much in this book? Are there other ways of measuring time that crop up in this story?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Changes, changes—in this book, everything changes for the better over time.
Changes, shmanges—in this book, everything changes over time, but some of those changes have Billy down in the dumps.