|
Characters |
|
|
Francie’s family |
Neighborhood |
|
Francie Nolan Katie Rommely
Nolan – mother Johnny Nolan
– day Neeley –
brother Annie Laurie
- baby Mary and
Thomas Rommely – grandparents Eliza –
second daughter, became a nun Aunt Sissy –
married 3 times, lost 10 babies John/Steve –
3rd husband Sarah “Little
Sissy” – adopted but pretended her own Stephen Aaron
– Sissy’s baby Aunt Evy Willie
Flittman – one-man band, ran away Ruthie and
Mickey Nolan – men all died young Sons – Andy,
George, Frankie, Johnny Sargent
McShane Ben Blake –
helped Francie with school, gave her his class ring |
Shopkeepers: The Hebrew –
pickles Gimpy – candy
store Cheap
Charlie’s – penny candy store Carney –
bought things from kids, extra penny for pinching girls’ cheeks Hassler –
butcher, soup bone Werner –
butcher, meat The Librarian Flossie
Gaddis – neighbor, worked in glove factory Henry –
brother, consumption Frank – drove
wagon advertising for dentist Little Tilly Gussie –
brother Mr. McGarrity
– saloon keeper Mae – wife |
For Discussion:
NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2001 Harper Perennial Modern
Classic edition.
1.
The novel is about Francie’s life from age 11 to
17. How did she change during this
time? What experiences were important to
her growth?
2.
When it was time for the children to be
vaccinated in order to attend school, “Weeping mothers brought bawling
children” (page 144) to the clinic.
Katie did not go with Francie and Neeley because she reasoned, “why
shouldn’t one of the three be spared” (page 144). Did you understand this reasoning? Do you remember getting vaccinated as a
child?
3.
Katie told Francie that one reason for the
vaccination was that it “makes you tell your left hand from your right” (page
147). Francie was left-handed, but after
this she began to use her right hand.
Do you remember anyone of your friends being forced to use their right
hand when they were left-handed?
4.
What did you think about the religious assembly
where a rich girl wanted to give her doll away to a “poor little girl in the
audience named Mary” (page 212). No one
would volunteer because of the use of the word “poor” but Francie lied and got
the doll. After that she was made fun
of, and Francie came to understand that the other girls had something she did
not, “pride” (page 213). It turned out
that Francie’s full name was Mary Frances Nolan. Did this make her feel any better about
thinking she lied to get the doll?
5.
When Katie asked her mother for advice about
raising children, Mary Rommely told her that the keys to success were: reading
and writing, imagination, learning the truth, suffering, believing in heaven,
and owning a piece of land. How good do
you think this advice was?
6.
Why did Katie always favor Neeley? For example, when high school was starting,
she said Neeley had to go even though he did not want to and Francie did. Her reasoning was that because Francie did
want to go, she would find a way. Was
this fair?
7.
Before Francie moved, she went to Cheap Charlie’s
and bought all of the numbers on the prize board. As she expected, there were no big prizes on
the board. Charlie felt he was not
cheating the children because they always got the penny candy they paid for and
the chance to win made it more exciting.
Did you agree?
8.
Francie’s favorite place to read was on the fire
escape above the tree, with ice water and peppermint wafers,
“fire-escape-sitting-time” (page 25).
What is your favorite time and place to read? This is a frequent question asked in author
interviews in the New York Times Book Review.
9.
Francie and Neeley were described as “reading
children” who “read everything they came across” (page 295). Can you relate to this characteristic? What things can’t you resist reading?
10.
What was your favorite part of the story? Which characters did you find more compelling
or interesting?
11.
This novel was selected as one of the Books of
the Century by the New York Public Library.
Why is it so popular?
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