The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, by Lisa See

Characters
Akha Ethnic Minority	Others
Li-yan – “Tina” A-ma A-pa Three brothers and sisters-in-law Haley Davis – Yan-yeh, Li-yan’s daughter, left at orphanage Paul William Chang – Li-yan’s son with Jin Ci-tech – best friend	Teacher Zhang Deh-ja – married Ci-do, had twin “human rejects” and had to kill them, banished from community San-pa – pancake thief and Li-yan’s first husband Huang Benyu – tea buyer from Hong Kong Xian-rong “Sean” – son Pu’er tea Tea Master Sun – Pu’er Tea College Jin Chang Mrs. Chang – mother Haley’s parents: Constance – professor of biology Dan - arborist Girls in therapy session with Haley: Tiffany Jessica Ariel Heidi

For Discussion:

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

1. Traditions played a large part in the Akha people’s day-to-day life at the beginning of the novel.  When Li-yan returned as a grown-up after being away eight years she found things greatly changed.  When asked, her father said that “the world has come to us…we don’t have time for all the cleansing, ceremonies, sacrifices, or worrying about Dog Days and Buffalo Days when we have so much work to do” (pages 184-5).   How important were the traditions if they were so easily abandoned?
2. Is there a difference between a tradition and a superstition?   What were most of the things the Akha people did?
3. How did the Akha people justify encouraging the unmarried girls and boys to go to the Flower Room but then deemed it disgraceful if the girl got pregnant?
4. The word “tu” was used very often in the novel and changed meaning over time.  The original meaning was negative (page 168) but changed to a positive concept meaning, “…untouched by the evils of civilization” (page 169).   What words are in our vocabulary that have changed meaning?
5. Discuss the character of Jin.  Would you have trusted him?  Was everything he did (secret trips to visit Li-yan’s family, purchases he made such as houses without consulting anyone, etc.)  realistic? 
6. How do you think Jin and Li-yan were so easily able to go between the two lifestyles in America and China – living in a mansion to a primitive newlywed hut?
7. What did you learn from the transcript of Haley’s therapy group?   Do you think the author portrayed the adoptee’s experience realistically?   Did you understand the pressures the girls felt to be successful and their conflicted feelings of being both grateful and angry?
8. The ruma and nima call a village meeting when Ci-teh and Li-Yan return to the village after the tea market collapses so that they will settle their differences in front of the people (page 155 – 262).  The ruma states that, “The Akha Way tells us that a single moment changes destinies” (page 261) and the moment that changed both women was when the “human rejects” were born into Ci-teh’s family.  Where else in the novel does a “single moment” change someone’ destiny?
9. In Haley’s English class in October 2012 she wrote a story about her immigrant experience.  The instructor’s evaluation noted that she, “would have hated to see you fall back on the Shakespearean trope of coincidence” (page 316).  What part did coincidence play in this novel, for example Haley meeting Xian-rong who knew where her tea cake came from or Li-yan running into Deh-ja on the street?  Was this too much?
10. Discuss Ci-teh and Li-yan’s relationship throughout the novel.   Were you surprised that Ci-teh wanted to tear down the tea trees and plant coffee?   Could you understand Ci-teh’s motivation given what her family went through when they lost everything due to her brother and Deh-ja having the “human rejects?”
11. Pu’er tea was as important as a major character in the novel.  What was in the tea that cured Xian-rong?
12. Tea Master Sun taught Li-yan that there are three disciplines of tea: 1.) Confucius, “…help people understand their inner dispositions” 2.) Buddhists, “…among the four ways to concentrate the mind” and 3.) Daoists, “…a way to regulate internal alchemy, be in harmony with the natural world, and serve as an ingredient in the elixir of immortality” (page 191).  Do you think tea can do all of this?
13. If you like to drink tea or are a “tea nerd” (page 333) like Xian-rong, what did you learn about tea in this novel?
14. Discuss your reading experience.  This book was unique in that it used spelling lists, emails, homework assignments and therapy session transcripts in addition to regular narrative to tell the story.   Did you like that?  Do you think it added to the story?

*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

Tomorrow Will Be Different, by Sarah McBride

REVIEW:  Recognizing that each reader brings their own background and beliefs to a book, I did not read this book as a political statement.  I read it as a personal journey that also informs the reader of the broader picture in our country of the struggles anyone labeled “different” has to endure to have the same basic human rights and respect as anyone else.  I thought the alternating between the author’s story and the nation-wide data was very powerful.  Of course, politics cannot be ignored because that is what determines the current “law of the land,” but even if you do not always agree with the author, she does a compelling job of explaining her experiences and point of view.  I found the novel very insightful and moving and recommend it be read with an open mind and kind heart.  I received a complimentary copy of the book for this review. 

People

Sarah McBride Sally – mother, former guidance counselor Dad – former antiwar protester, corporate attorney Sean and Dan – brothers Andrew Cray – husband, deceased Jack Markell – mentor, governor of Delaware Joe Biden – Vice President Beau Biden – son, Delaware Attorney General Bishop Gene – officiated at both wedding and funeral Helen – high school friend, first to call author by female name and pronoun State of Delaware

For Discussion:

NOTE:  Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1. How might Sarah’s story have been different if her parents had different backgrounds?
2. On page 10 the author stated that how people are represented in popular culture is crucial to how people are accepted.  Do you agree?   Can you think of how pop culture has influenced how you view something? 
3. Sarah asked her friend Helen, who was studying abroad, to try calling her by a female name.  How important was Helen’s acceptance to Sarah?  Would you be able to do this for a friend?
4. On page 28, Sarah identified one problem as an “empathy gap,” meaning that people could not understand how a transgender person feels because it was so far removed from their experiences.  How important do you think empathy is in our dealings with other people who are different from us?  How can we gain empathy?
5. Sarah stated that she was, “proud to be transgender” and that “Our identities matter” (page 68).  What is your identity and how important is it to you that other people know this?
6. The state of Delaware plays an important part in Sarah’s story.  Do you feel the same sense of connection to your state?  What makes Delaware special to its citizens?
7. After Sarah posted the picture of herself in the woman’s bathroom on Instagram and Facebook she received an overwhelming number of vicious responses (pages 235-6).   Were you surprised at the hatefulness of these responses?  Sarah thought she would not be affected by these but was surprised at the sense of despair she felt.  How can we counter this when it happens to a child for whatever reason?
8. Following the above incident, Sarah wrote that bullies, “…see our power and they are jealous of it” (page 238).  Do you agree that bullies are insecure and jealous and act like they do in order to make themselves feel better?  What can we do to stop bullies?
9. When Sarah was working on her convention speech, a friend reminded her of a quote by Maya Angelou, “At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel” (page 242).   Many people feel that our actions speak the loudest.  What do you think about this quote?
10. The author never told the reader her birth name or used a masculine pronoun when referring to herself before she transitioned.  How did this affect your understanding?
11. At the end of the book, Sarah quoted a statistic that, “the percentage of Americans saying they personally know someone who is transgender rose from single digits to roughly a third” (page 225).   (Please note that I could not find a citation for this statistic.)   Do you know anyone who is transgender?   Do you know anyone who is different from you and your family?   Do you think this is generational?

*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.   Click on the upper right link.