Girl Waits with Gun, by Ann Stewart

 

Characters
Real People - 1914	Fictional
Kopp Family: Parents - deceased Constance Norma Fleurette Francis - brother Bessie- wife   Henry Kaufman   Sheriff Heath Cordelia – wife   George Ewing   John Ward – Kaufman’s lawyer, ordered photographs at Kaufmann’s request   Newspaper articles and letters	Lucy Blake and baby son, Bobby   Marion Garfinkel – Henry’s sister   Henri LaMotte – collects evidence   Mrs. Florence’s County Home for Friendless and Erring Women

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

1.       What did you think about how Fleurette was raised, kept away from everyone including public school?  Was that realistic for the times?

2.       Why did Fleurette turn out so differently than her sisters, Norma and Constance? 

3.       From the Acknowledgements it seems that the secret of Fleurette’s birth was kept from everyone, including her, for a very long time.    Was that fair to her?  Would this same situation happen today?

4.       Were you surprised that her mother did not want Constance to be found and forbid Francis from asking around to find her?  She was sure that “whatever the reason for my disappearance, it had to be something shameful, something not to be spoken of, even with the rest of the family” (page 117).  Years later Constance’s uncles still thought she had “enrolled in a secretarial college in Philadelphia” (page 117).  Do you think this was normal for the times?

5.       Should Constance have been suspicious of the Singer Sewing Machine salesman and not fallen into his trap?   All her mother had told her was to “never sit alone on a divan with a man” (page 107).   Should she have been better educated?

6.       Constance was not hired as a detective for Wanamaker’s Department Store because she was too tall and would not blend in with the customers.   Would she have been successful as a store detective? 

7.       Did you like the organization of the book, switching between the current case and the family history?

8.       When this book was published in 2015 it won numerous honors such as being named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2015.   Why do you think it was so honored?  Do you think it deserved all of the recognition?

9.       For you, how did the book compare with others in the historical fiction genre?

10.   Do you want to read the next book in the series?

The Giver of Stars, by Jojo Moyes

 

Characters
Baileyville WPA Packhorse Library	Library Patrons	Townspeople
Margery O’Hare Alice Van Cleve Beth Pinker Izzy Brady – polio   Sophia Kenworth – worked at night, kept records and repaired books, made The Baileyville Bonus from ruined magazines and books   Kathleen Bligh   Mrs. Lena Nofcier – chairman of the Library Service for the Kentucky WPA   Mrs. Brady – local woman in charge of library	Nancy Stone Phyllis – sister, bedridden   Muellers: Mr. Mueller - miner Wife and four children   Horner family: Jim Wife - deceased Mae and Millie   Mrs. Beidecker – schoolteacher   Bligh family: Garrett – husband, ill Kathleen Two children	Sven Gustavsson Virginia Alice O’Hare – daughter with Margery   Mr. Geoffrey Van Cleve Dolores – deceased wife Bennett – son, Alice’s husband Annie – maid   Hoffman Mining   Peggy Foreman – Bennett’s old girlfriend   Fred Guisler   Clem McCullough Daughters – Verna and Neeta   William Kenworth – Sophia’s brother

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1.       Why did Bennett marry Alice in the first place?

2.       Were you surprised when Peggy, his second wife, came to the library to borrow the “little blue book?”  What was your theory about Bennett and his wives?

3.       Discuss Alice and her actions such as volunteering for the library, giving away two of Dolores’ dolls, standing up to Mr. Van Cleve and the minister using their own words, etc. 

4.       Was Margery right to influence the miners about selling the rights to their land to Hoffman Mining for strip mining as well as distributing the “little blue book?”  Should she have avoided the controversies all together?

5.       In Chapter 23, Mrs. Brady stood up to Mr. Van Cleve, the McCullough family, and some of the townspeople at Margery’s trial.  Did her actions surprise you?  

6.       Verna lied and said that Clem had been borrowing books from the library and that he had gone out to return Little Women?   Do you think the judge, jury, and townspeople really believed her?

7.       Did you like the ending?

8.       Were you surprised when Mr. Van Cleve beat Alice?  Why didn’t Bennett do anything?  What would Dolores have thought of his actions?

9.       The story line that was not tied up at the end was what happened to the Van Cleves.   Bennett quietly told Alice that the sheriff had not spoken with Verna and Neeta and he also told her that he was going to shore up the slurry dams with concrete even though his father had not yet agreed to do so.   What do you think happened to the mines and Mr. Van Cleve?

10.   What did the quotations at the beginning of the chapters add to the book?

11.   Besides the power of books and reading, what other themes were addressed in the novel?  What do you think the main theme was?

Dear Edward, by Ann Napolitano

 

Characters
Flight 2977 – June 12, 2013	Others
Adler family: Bruce Jane Jordan – Mahira, girlfriend Eddie   Linda Stollen - pregnant ·       Gary – boyfriend   Florida – multiple lives, bells in skirt   Benjamin Stillman - soldier, wounded, colostomy ·       Gavin – friend ·       Lolly – adopted grandmother   Mark Lassio – businessman ·       Jax – brother, girlfriend Tahiti   Crispen Cox - businessman, disabled, author ·       Louisa – first wife ·       Harrison Cox -son ·       Private nurse   Veronica – flight attendant   Dr.  Nancy Louis	Lacey and John Curtis – Jane’s sister   Besa – neighbor Shay – daughter, Edward’s friend   Dr. Mike – therapist   Principal Arundhi – grows ferns   Mrs. Tulane – gym teacher   Margaret – girl Edward pushed in gym class   Madame Victory – fortune teller

For Discussion:

Note: Pages are from paperback edition.

1.       Did the author do a good job describing what it is like to be an airplane passenger?  She wrote, “The passengers are pulled into themselves: the long flight has only just begun, and they need to get used to this new space…They resign themselves to the new normal, one by one” (page 44).  Could you relate?

2.       Edward was most comfortable wearing Jordan’s clothes and he noticed that Lacey was wearing one of Jane’s blouses in January 2014 (page 133) to help her be “brave” and one of her sweaters in January 2016 (page 222).  How did these clothes comfort them?  Do you have any “comfort” clothes?

3.       In June 2015, Edward thought that while he “understands the adults’ desire for him to just be healed – how could they really understand what he’s been through?  But he feels like Lacey should know better” (page 164).  Was he hoping for too much from Lacey?  Should she have been handling things better or differently?

4.       Was Edward’s dependence on Shay a positive or negative?  Should he have been allowed to sleep on her bedroom floor for two years? 

5.       What did you think about the idea that people felt compelled to talk to Edward and tell them things?  Dr. Mike explained that they “want to share something extraordinary about themselves, because you’ve experienced something extraordinary” (page 117).  Did this seem probable to you?  Would you have wanted to tell Edward something about yourself?

6.       In the same vein, what did you think about the letters from victims’ families asking Edward to do something such as taking photographs like Dr. Louis, writing to a victim’s children, or walk the Great Wall of China?  Why did reading these requests suddenly help Edward sleep (page 239)?

7.       Shay compared Edward to Harry Potter because he “survived a terrible attack that no one should have been able to survive” and has “a scar like Harry Potter too. And you were taken in by your aunt and uncle” (page 74).  Was this helpful to Edward?

8.       Margaret knew that there were 11 Asian people on the plane.  When she talked to Edward about this, he felt that she “has just given him confirmation that feels like a puzzle piece locking into place and he was grateful” (page 208).   By this time, he had memorized the names of the other passengers.  Why did her comment provide relief to Edward?

9.       How did Florida and her multiple lives fit into the story line?  In the photograph taken the day of the memorial’s dedication, there was a curly-haired toddler looking at the grass instead of the sculpture.  Did you think that was Florida?

10.   In July 2013, Laney and John receive a binder with pictures of all the items found at the crash site and asking them to identify which belonged to their family members.  John wanted to keep it from Edward because Dr. Mike said their “job is to protect him” but Laney said she didn’t “want to lie to him.  I think he should be able to see the information, so he can make sense of it himself” (page 84).  Who do you think was correct? 

11.   Three years later, in March 2016, Edward and John have a conversation in the garage and John admitted that he and Lacey had withheld things from him because they were worried that Edward would commit suicide.  Edward replied, “I would not have done that to you…because I know what it’s like to be left behind” (page283).  On page 299 we read that “the atmosphere in the house has changed since Edward confronted his uncle in the garage.”  Was it possible to have had that conversation earlier in Edward’s recovery?  Was it right for John and Lacey to keep things from Edward?

12.   Why did Edward have issues with food?  To him, food seemed “not only unnecessary but irrelevant” (page 60).  He couldn’t “bear the idea of food that changes form in any way. Sloshing was intolerable, and he didn’t want anything with bubbles” (page 61).

13.   When Lacey was trying to get Edward to eat, she pleaded with him, “Please don’t do this…If Jane knew how badly I was doing at taking care of you…” (page 60).   Was she doing a bad job?  Was there anything she could have done differently?

14.   Discuss Louisa Cox.  Why did she send books to Edward (Cox’s business book, a biography of Teddy Roosevelt, and Harrison’s poetry book as a graduation gift)?   Were you surprised that she was invited to the high school graduation ceremony?

15.   Did you think the adults in the novel could or should have treated Edward differently?  Was it possible for him to recover any faster or at all?

16.   One of the criticisms of the book was that many of the characters were stereotypes.  Do you agree?

17.   Did you enjoy the reading experience?  Did you like the way the book was organized – how it kept switching between Edward’s current life and the last hours on the plane?