The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant

Characters NOTE: Italicized names are from the Bible
Female	Male
Dinah – narrator, last child and first daughter of Jacob and Leah Leah – Jacob’s first wife Zilpah – 2nd wife Rachel – 3rd wife, midwife, intimidated Jacob Bilhah – 4th wife, daughter of slave and Laban Ruti – Laban’s last wife, abused, rescued by Leah after Laban gambled her away Tabea – Esau’s daughter, Dinah’s friend Meryt – midwife who delivered Bar-Shalem, befriended Dinah Re-nefer – Hamor’s queen, Shalem’s mother Merenro – slave to Rebecca, thought killed on road but entertained at a party for Re-mose after his circumcision	Jacob – husband and father, son of Isaac and Rebecca Esau – Jacob’s twin brother Laban – father of all four of Jacob’s wives, each to a different mother (Zilpah and Bilhah daughters of slaves) Joseph – Rachel and Jacob’s son, friends with Dinah, nursed by Leah Zafenat Paneh-ah – name after sold by brothers into slavery, interpreted of dreams and could see the future Hamor – king, called Meryt and Dinah to help with Ashnan’s delivery Shalem – first born son, married Dinah Bar-Shalem/Re-mose – son of Dinah and Shalem, renamed by Re-nefer and parentage taken from Dinah Simon and Levi – murdered Shalem and all other living males Benia – carpenter, Dinah’s second husband

For Discussion:

NOTE: All pages are from paperback edition.

1. In the beginning of the novel Rachel, Zilpah and Leah tricked Jacob into marrying Leah instead of Rachel.  Why did Leah go along with this plan?   Do you think Jacob realized the switch?  Discuss Rachel’s behavior – she got what she wanted (not to marry) but then was mad.   Is this human nature?
2. How were the four sisters able to coexist and actually get along and work together when they shared the same husband?
3. How well did the author describe events common to all women – childbirth, first sight of baby, etc.?
4. Simon and Levi were upset that Dinah married Shalem.  One explanation was that they felt “…their own positions would be diminished by such an alliance” (page 197).   Why do you think their reaction (killing all the men) was so over the top?
5. Did you like the end of the novel when Gera (Benjamin’s daughter, Rachel’s granddaughter) told Dinah the story of her family and Dinah’s own story?  Dinah reflected that, “The story of Dinah was too terrible to be forgotten” (page 317).
6. Why did Leah ask Judah to give Dinah the ring that was the token of Jacob’s love for Rachel?  What message was Leah sending Dinah?
7. If you are familiar with the Bible stories of Jacob and Esau and Joseph and his brothers, how did this prior knowledge affect your reading? 
8. The novel is based on Genesis 34 and the chapter ends with Simon and Levi killing all of the males in Hamor’s family and taking Dinah out of the house.  The only other time Dinah is mentioned is in Genesis 46:15 when she is listed as a descendent of Jacob. How believable is the rest of the story as written by Diamant? 
9. There were a few inconsistencies comparing this novel to the Biblical stories.  Does this matter to your enjoyment of the novel?
1. Genesis 29:24 – Zilpah was a maid Laban gave to Leah to be her maid
2. Genesis 29:29 – Bilhah was a maid Leban gave Rachel to be her maid
3. Joseph written to be arrogant (page 285) and illiterate (page 281), but I don’t think that was from the Biblical depiction.
10. How would readers of different ages or men vs. women read this bo
11. Would reading this book give a male reader any insight into women?   Did you gain any insight or understanding?
12. One comment in the beginning of the book stated, “…women handed down wisdom through storytelling inside the red tent.  Todays’ women’s gatherings, including book groups, serve the same purposes.”  Do you agree?   Are there other places and times where storytelling is important today?
13. This is NOT described as historical fiction.   In fact, on the copyright page there is the statement, “This is a work of fiction.  Although loosely based on stories found in the Bible, the events and characters described here are products of the author’s imagination.”  At my book group we were surprised to discover that the word “loosely” was not in the statement in some printings of the book.  Some members were bothered by the use of a Bible story and the bending of facts and then inventing a continuation of the story.  What did you think?  Would the story be just as effective if it was totally fiction?

*****
First Semester Success: 2nd Edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an  eBook and hardcopy from amazon.com and a hardcopy from wordassociation.com.  Click on the upper right link.

China Dolls, by Lisa See

Characters
Grace Lee – born in America, Chinese but raised “American” Abused by father Helen Fong – born in America, raised Chinese Ba - father Monroe – brother, married an Occidental Lai Kai and Dajun– first husband and son, killed by Japanese Tommy – son with Tim McNulty Ruby Tom – Kimiko Fukutomi, born in America, Japanese, hid ethnicity Hideo – brother, killed by Americans Yori – brother, internment camp, enlisted Joe Mitchell – pilot in war Tim McNulty – manager C. C. Brown’s, affair with Helen Ray Boiler – killed Ida	Forbidden City Night Club
	Charlie Low Eddie Wu – dancer, gay, married Helen, dance act together Li Tei Ming – Charlie’s wife, singer Ida – “pony”, became Grace’s roommate, hid Japanese ethnicity Lin Sisters – “warbling trio”

 For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition of novel.

1. Discuss how the three families approached their ethnicity and living in America:
1. Grace – denied Chinese culture and raised totally as an American.
2. Helen – raised Chinese, no American influence
3. Ruby – raised in Japanese culture but decided to pass as Chinese for career
2. In the same vein, discuss how each girl was raised and how it impacted their lives:
1. Grace – act totally American
2. Helen – follow Chinese culture: no touching, cannot show teeth when smile, subservient to father
3. Ruby – raised in Japanese culture: rules such as “smile behind pressed fingers so I’d look more alluring” and “begin each sentence as though everything were my fault” (page 80).  

3. Did you see Grace’s father in a different light when you read about her mother’s story on pages 288-289 and the story of her birth on 116-117?  Grace remembered that her dad was a dreamer, and that “Dreamers are born to be disappointed.  My dad was, certainly, and in this single regard I now understood him in a way I never had before” (page 116).
4. Grace’s parents became totally Americanized, but Grace was still bullied in school by three girls of Finnish heritage: Velma, Ilsa and Maude.   When she slowly realized that the three girls were themselves outsiders and that they picking on her to boost themselves, she thought, “It takes training to learn how to be a bigot” (page 116).  Did this give you any insight into why people bully or put others down?
5. Ruby was more Americanized than her family, denied her Japanese heritage, and did not necessarily support Japan’s war efforts.  For example, she called Japan’s “rape of Nanking a war crime” (page 81) and was slapped by her mother who called her ungrateful.  Her parents also disapproved of the fact that she had her own opinions and liked boys.  How did all of this influence her life?
6. In the days after Pearl Harbor, both Grace and Helen were suspicious of Ruby. When Ruby expressed fear about being taken to internment camp Helen said, “What about us?  What’s going to happen to Tommy and me?  They [the Japanese] could come and kill you, Grace” (page 180).   Were these feelings expected? 
7. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor when Ruby was crying in her room, Grace did not go comfort her because she “didn’t want her to lose even more face by seeing me” (page 187).  Ruby brought this up again at the end of the novel, page 350.  Was this a cultural reaction or an excuse not to get involved?   Do you think she should have gone to her?
8. What did you think about Helen as her story was revealed throughout the novel?  Were you able to understand her actions, particularly trying to turn Ruby against Grace and spreading the rumor that Grace turned in Ruby?
9. How well do you think the author portrayed the reactions and feelings of the various people in America after the bombing of Pearl Harbor?
10. The entertainers felt they were doing their part in the war effort by entertaining, and in many cases going to bed with, soldiers. Were they justified in this behavior?  Were these actions viewed in a different light during that time period?  How would that be viewed now?
11. Were you surprised to read that Helen turned Ruby in and that Grace was blamed?  Even though she had kept Ruby’s secret before, Grace was now afraid to help Ruby or answer her letters (page 235).  How much did Helen influence Grace’s decision not to answer?  Did you understand this fear?
12. In 1943 Chinese were granted permission to become American citizens.  Even though Helen’s family was heavily involved in the war effort (Lincoln a dentist in military, Madison and Jefferson made ammunition, mother organized women to cook for soldiers) they did not apply because they did not want to lose “rights to return to the home village” (page 235).  Could you understand this decision?
13. In a review of Lisa See’s new book, The Island of Sea Women, the reviewer wrote that friendship is one of her main themes in her novels.  How was friendship portrayed in this novel?
14. Did you gain any new insights after reading this book?

*****

First Semester Success: 2nd Edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an eBook and hardcopy from amazon.com and hardcopy from wordassociation.com.  Click on the upper right link.

The Round House, by Louise Erdrich

Characters
American Indian	White American
Antone Bazil Coutts – “Joe” Antone Bazil Coutts – father, Bazil Geraldine – mother, tribal enrollment specialist Mooshum – grandfather, told stories in his sleep Aunt Clemence – mother’s sister Uncle Edward Virgil Lafournais – friend, “Cappy” Randall – older brother, had vision about Joe Zack Peace – friend Angus Kashpaw – friend Uncle Whitey – owns gas station Sonja – wife, ex-stripper Albert and Betty Wishkop Linda Lark – unofficial adopted daughter Mayla Wolfskin – called Geraldine for help Tanya - baby daughter – Yeltow trying to adopt her George and Aurora Wolfskin – custody of Tanya	Dr. Egge Father Travis – priest from Texas YEC – Youth Encounter Christ Zelia Grace and George Lark – wanted to kill weaker, second twin (Linda) Linden – healthy twin Soren Bjerki – FBI agent assigned to Indian Country Curtis Yeltow – governor of South Dakota, Tanya’s father, wants to adopt

 For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1. At the beginning of the novel, Joe writes that he was lucky because he “was a boy doted on by women” (page 25).   Why did he think this was a good thing?
2. When Edward and Bazil were discussing Father Travis and his “questioning sermons”, Edward wondered if “he’s entirely stable, or then again, if he might be simply…intelligent” (page 77).  What did you think of this observation?
3. Regarding Father Travis, what did you think about the incident when the three boys were spying on him because they thought he was a suspect?  He revealed his injuries to the boys and did not tell their parents what they had done.  Was what he did and did not do appropriate?
4. Why do you think Linda donated a kidney to her brother, Linden, after the following: her mother looked for Linda only after Linden needed a kidney, the doctor told her that his kidney failure was his own fault, and Linden told Linda he did not want her kidney because she was so ugly (chapter 6)?  Later on, she told Joe she was sorry she had helped Linden.
5. Father Travis was at Dealey Plaza when JFK was assassinated.  When telling Bazil the story and about how a dog had run into the street, Father Travis reflected that “…how many unknown and similarly inconsequential accidents and bits of happenstance were at this moment occurring or failing to occur…” (page 132).  Were there bits of happenstance in the novel that influenced the story?   Have you experienced an inconsequential happenstance that later proved to be important to your life?
6. How did you understand the American Indian terms throughout the novel?
1. Joe’s doodemag, luck, were cranes and herons (page 134)
2. When someone throws their spirit at you, Mooshum advised, “go to your doodem… find the ajijaak” (page 132)
3. A wiindigoo could cast its spell into another person, eats fellow humans
7. Was it appropriate for Sonja to help Joe put the money he found in the lake in multiple bank accounts?  What should she have done with the money?  Were you surprised she took most of the money?
8. What did you think about Sonja’s birthday present to Mooshum?  Why did she continue on with Joe in the room?
9. What was the point of the story about Akiikwe (Akii) and her son, Nanapush.   Her husband said Akii was inhabited by a wiindigoo and should be killed by Nanapush.  When on the run, Nanapush saved himself by sheltering in a buffalo carcass and following that the buffalo woman spoke to him.  The people built the round house (where attack occurred) in the buffalo’s image (page 215).
10. When Father Travis was explaining to Joe why there was evil in the world (page 253-4), do you think he knew Joe’s ulterior motive for wanting to learn to shoot gophers?
11. Father Travis gave Joe the book Dune, by Frank Herbert.  In this science fiction novel, the main character, a boy, goes on a journey to avenge a plot against his family.   What does this tell you about what Father Travis knew?
12. Bazil used a visual analogy with the moldy casserole to explain to Joe why he did what he did.  In the end he said, “What I am doing now is for the future, though it may seem small, or trivial, or boring to you” (page 230).  Did this help you to understand the plight of the American Indian?
13. Were you surprised that Joe killed Linden in the end and that Cappy came to help?   How much did Joe’s parents know or suspect?

*****
First Semester Success, 2nd Edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an eBook and hardcopy from Amason.com and hardcopy from wordassociation.com.   Click on the upper right link.

The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern

Characters

Prospero the Enchanter – Hector Bowen – “died” March 1885 Celia Bowen Alexander Marco Alisdair – became assistant to Lefevre Chandresh Christophe Lefevre – theater producer Midnight Dinner guests: Mme. Ana Padva – retired Romanian prima ballerina, designed circus costumes Mr. Ethan W. Barris – engineer and architect Tara and Lainie Burgess – designed atmosphere (scents, music, lighting, curtains, etc.) Mr. A. H. – has no shadow Herr Fredrick Thiessen – clockmaker, wrote articles about circus, leader “reveurs” Le Cirque des Reves Isobel Martin – fortune teller, Marco’s girlfriend Tsukiko – contortionist, Mr. A. H.’s student, part of previous challenge Twins born opening night 1886: Winston Aidan Murray “Widget” – sees the past Penelope Aislin Murray “Poppet” – sees the future                                                                      Concord, MA 1892, 1897, 1902: Bailey Clarke Caroline – older sister

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the paperback edition.

1. At the beginning of the novel Alexander tells Marco “People see what they wish to see.  And in most cases, what they are told that they see” (page 33).   Further on when Marco is teaching Isobel a simple charm, he says, “But it won’t work if you don’t believe it will…” (page 50).  How did these two ideas influence the people who visited the circus?   Did they influence the way you read the novel?
2. Discuss the various characters.  Was anyone believable?  Were you able to understand the characters even though very few were based in reality?
3. The Burgess sisters were in charge of the atmosphere (scents, music, lighting, etc.) at the circus.  How do our senses influence our experiences?  Do you have any personal examples?
4. What happened to Tara Burgess?  Was it suicide, accident, or did someone cause her death using magic?
5. When staging shows, Chandresh is more interested in the reactions of the audience than the show itself.  He felt, “In the response of the audience, that is where the power of performance lives” (page 57).  Have you ever experienced a performance where the reactions of the audience made a difference in your experience?
6. How important is our past to our present lives?  When explaining how he reads people’s past, Widget told Bailey, “On people, the past stays on you…Some people can get rid of it but it’s still there, the events and things that pushed you to where you are now” (page 263).
7. The three chapters titles when Bailey was visiting the circus were based on the root -mancy which means a form of divination:
1. Page 136 – Oneiromancy: interpretation of dreams to tell the future
2. Page 213 – Cartomancy: fortune telling using playing cards
3. Page 251 – Ailuromancy: using the movement of cats to predict the future.

Why did the author use obscure words that most people would not understand instead of simply using the definition?

8. What was the allure of the circus for the reveurs?
9. When Bailey was walking around the circus with Widget and Poppet, he was surprised no one recognized them.  Widget responded that, “People don’t pay attention to anything unless you give them a reason to” (page 254).   Do you think this is correct?   What might we be missing because we are not paying attention?
10. At the end of the novel Mr. A. H. he told Widget about the magic in stories and words and that Widget can shape the future through stories.  He said, “There’s magic in that.  It’s in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict…Your sister may be able to see the future, but you yourself can shape it, boy” (page 505).  Have you read or heard a story that influenced you in some way?
11. Would you have gone to the circus?  More than once?
12. Did you like reading a pure fantasy?   Did the make-believe add or distract from your reading experience?

*****
First Semester Success: 2nd Edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an eBook and hard copy from amazon.com and in hard copy from wordassociation.com.   Click on the upper right link.

A Thousand Acres, by Jane Smiley

Characters
Cook family: Larry – dad Mother – deceased, cancer Ginny – miscarriages, husband Tyler Rose – breast cancer, husband Pete (musician), daughters Pammy and Linda Caroline – lawyer, husband Frank Clark family: Harold – father Mother – deceased, cancer Loren – stayed on farm Jess – in military, lived in Canada for 13 years	Marv Carson – banker Ken LaSalle – lawyer Henry Dodge – minister Jean Cartier – Lawyer in Macon City Eileen – Ginny’s manager at Perkins

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the paperback edition.

1. Discuss the various relationships in the novel:
1. Jess and mother – she did not try to contact him and tell him she was dying
2. Caroline and Larry and also with Ginny and Rose
3.  Ginny and Rose
4.   Jess and Ginny and then Rose 
5.   Ginny and mother – One of her mother’s friends confided in Ginny that her mother was “…afraid for you.  For the life you would live after she died.”  She also told her, “For one thing, she wanted you to have more choices.  I know she wanted you to go to college” (page 91).
6. Jess and the Cook family
7.  Rose and Pete and Ginny and Ty
8.  Larry with everyone!

2. Do you think the author’s analysis is correct about the thinking of city people “looking for the payoff in a situation rather than the pitfall” compared to farmers “looking for pitfalls, holes, drop-offs…” (page 77)?
3. There was a lot of emphasis on patience, endurance and not speaking your mind, especially with Ginny, Rose, Ty and Pete.  At a point Ginny thought, “Maybe if we had conducted out lives differently in the past, had not been so accommodating, not so malleable…” (page 147).  Was it possible for them to have been anything different?
4. What did you think of Caroline’s change of attitude about giving the farm to Ginny and Rose?  On page 21, Ginny thought Caroline, “would have seen my father’s plan as a trapdoor plunging her into a chute that would deposit her right back on the farm.”  Did Larry misunderstand her when she said “I don’t know” (page 19)?  Why did she bring the lawsuit again Ginny and Rose with Larry at the end of the novel?
5. Discuss Harold’s public appearance compared to his actual person.  For example, he kept his truck dirty so that it seemed like he was close to disaster but the engine was spotless and showed that he was doing very well.
6. Why did Harold set things up at the church supper the way he did with Jess and the Cook family seated in the middle of the room?  Afterwards Rose said to Jess, “He intended to humiliate both you and us, and to do it in public” (page 236).  Was he planning all along to embarrass them?
7. What did you think about Harold’s accident that led to his blindness?  Why did Pete empty the water tank on the fertilizer tank (page 301)?  Why Harold “jiggled the hose” (page 231)?   
8. Was Harold a friend or just a trouble-maker? 
9. Regarding Larry, Rose said to Ginny, “As long as he acts crazy, then he gets off scot-free” (page 235).  How much of his behavior was calculating and how much was real?
10. Why did Pete commit suicide?
11. What did you think when you read that Ginny was going to poison Rose?
12. Ginny did not tell Caroline of the sexual abuse by her father.  Do you think she should have confided in her?  Do you think Caroline was abused?
13. On page 323 Ginny thought about “Rose’s real third child…the one who would not be parted from her.  Her dark child, the child of her union with Daddy.”  Who was this child?
14. How would different people read this book?  For example, a younger person and a senior citizen or a farmer and someone who works in the city.
15. Were there any positive moments in the book?
16. How do you think Pammy and Linda will be as adults?
17. Why did this book win the Pulitzer Prize in 1992?

*****

First Semester Success: 2nd Edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an eBook and hard copy from amazon.com and a hard copy from wordassociation.com.   Click on the upper right link.

The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul, by Deborah Rodriguez

Characters

Yazmina Layla – younger sister Najama – baby Sunny – owns coffee shop Bashir Hadi – cook and manager Ahmet – guard Halajan – Ahmet’s mother, lives next door, works in coffee shop, widow Jack Tommy Rashif – widower, loves Halajan Candace Appleton Wakil – boyfriend Isabel Hughes – English journalist Petr – Russian Abdul Khan – drug lord

For discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

1. Discuss the various characters and their actions.  For example:
1. Sunny – her decision to stay in such a dangerous place
2. Candace – staying with Wakil and justifying it by thinking she is helping him with his school.  Should she have investigated more?
3. Halajan – trying to get rid of Najama
4. Isabel – sacrificing her life for Candace
5. Yazmina – what options did she have?
   
2. What did you think of Abdul Khan labeling Americans and other Westerners as hypocrites?  He said they make money from the sale of drugs but pay mullahs to say growing poppies is against the Koran (page 105).  Can you see his point?
   
3. Candace thought that the main reason wealthy women did good deeds was to make themselves feel important and that there was more prestige helping people in foreign countries as opposed to in their own country (page 110).  Does it matter if important work is getting done?
4. Tommy’s reason for not wanting to go get Layla was because there would be too many repercussions for too many people.  Was this a valid reason?  What do you think he should have done?
5. Were you surprised at how ignorant Ahmat was regarding Yazmina’s condition?  Were you surprised at how quickly his attitude changed?
6. Bashir Hadi told Sunny that Americans are shallow because his observations of them in the coffee shop show them, “...revealing your personal problems, …expect so much,…feel that you deserve good things,…whine and moan over little things” (page 239).  Can you see how he would have this opinion?  Is his opinion valid?
7. My favorite line in the book about Ahmat, “His heart saw gray when his brain saw only black and white” (page 214).  How did this transformation happen?  Who else in the novel started to see things that way?
8. Why was the title of the book changes from “A Cup of Friendship” to the current title?  Was the change positive or negative?
9. What did you learn or take away from this book?

*****
First Semester Success: 2nd Edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an eBook and hard copy from amazon.com and hard copy from wordassociation.com.   Click on the upper right link.

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Characters
Narrator	Death
Meminger	Liesel – the book thief Werner – younger brother, deceased Mother
Hubermann	Hans and Rosa Hans Jr. – Nazi, fighting in army Trudy – live-in housemaid
Steiner	Rudy – Liesel’s friend Alex and Barbara – parents 5 other children – Kurt – oldest boy
Holtzapfel	Frau Holtzapel – spit on Hubermann’s door Richard – son – killed in war Michael – wounded – committed suicide as result of guilt of living
Vandenburg	Max –Jew hidden by Hubermanns Erik – father – taught Hans to play accordion, saved Hans’ live in WWI
Hermann	Ilsa – wife Heinz – husband, mayor Johann –deceased son
Others	Tommy Muller – classmate of Liesel and Rudy, ear infections, hearing loss Arthur Berg – leader of gang who stole food Viktor Chemmel – gang leader after Arthur Franz Deutscher – Hitler Youth, Rudy’s tormentor
Books	The Grave Digger’s Handbook - stolen #1 from snow at Werner’s burial The Shoulder Shrug - stolen from fire #2 Faust the Dog – gift The Lighthouse – gift Mein Kampf – brought by Hans from the Nazi Party office – used to make other books The Whistler - gift/returned/stolen from Ilsa #3 – read in bomb shelter and to Frau Holtzapfel The Standover Man – written by Max The Mud Men - gift The Dream Carrier - stolen from Ilsa #4 A Song in the Dark - stolen from Ilsa #5 The Complete Duder Dictionary and Thesaurus – gift from Ilsa The Word Shaker – written by Max The Last Human Stranger – gift from Ilsa The Book Thief – written by Liesel

 For discussion:

NOTE:  Page numbers refer to the hardback edition of the book.

1. Did you like the layout of the book; for example, the typeset of page numbers, text interspersed with bolded and numbered inserts, pictures?
2. Did you like the way the author wrote; Death as the narrator (page 138), heavy foreshadowing (pages 147, 164, 243)?
3. How would you describe Death’s personality?  Did you like how Death was portrayed?  Did this book make you view death with a different perspective?
4. Discuss Michael Holtzapfel’s suicide and his feeling of guilt over wanting to live (page 503).
5. Discuss Liesel’s desire to read and the descriptions by the author.  Did you relate to this desire?
1. her “hunger” to read (page 66)
2. ”hold [the words] in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out like the rain” (page 80)
3. “a mountain to climb” (page 86)
4. the “power” of reading (page 147)
6. When Max was ill, Liesel brought him presents that she found.  How were these presents important to Liesel?  To Max?
7. Discuss Frau Holtzapfel: spitting on Hubermann’s door, asking Liesel to read to her.
8. In the Hitler Youth carnival, why do you think Rudy disqualified himself on purpose in the last race?
9. Many people made difficult decisions in this novel.  What did you think of the following?
1. Was Hans right to help the one Jew during the first forced march through town only to put Max and his own family in danger?
2. Discuss the Steiner’s refusal to let the Nazi Party take Rudy away to school.   Was this the best decision?
10. Could you understand Alex Steiner’s “contradictory politics” (pages 59 &60)?  Do you think this was typical of many German citizens?  In point 5, what were the feelings he was afraid of?
11. What did you think about the imaginary boxing match between Max and Hitler on pages 250-255?  (Die #4 in the chapter “The Gamblers").  Did this help you better understand the situation in Germany from both the German and Jewish points of view?
12. Discuss the power of words and symbols described in The Word Shaker.  What similar powerful words and symbols do we have today
13. Discuss the ending.  Was it satisfying for you?
14. This book presented the Holocaust and Hitler’s Germany from the perspective of the ordinary citizens and a small girl.  Do you think it was effective?  Why or why not?

15. What is the appropriate age group for reading this book?  Do you think different ages will have different understandings?  Why?
1. Do you think this book would help a young adult reader understand the persecution of the Jews?
16. Why do you think this book was rated #14 in the PBS series, "The Great American Read” in summer 2019?  Would you have ranked this high, higher or lower?

*****

First Semester Success, 2nd Edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an eBook and hard copy from amazon.com and as a hard copy from wordassociation.com.   Click on the upper right link.