Discussion topics for book groups

 

Adult books clubs, particularly those whose members remember or know about the feedsack days, enjoy discussing experiences similar to those of the characters. These questions serve as a starting point.

1. Gail chooses a pretty sack for a dress. Does your family have stories about using feedsacks for clothing, tea towels, quilts, or other items?

2. Gail thinks the feedsack dress is a jinx. Is she right? Why do bad things happen to her?

3. Gail’s parents disagree on her need for store-bought clothes and the family’s needs when electricity comes. Which parent do you think is right? Why?

4. Gail continues her friendship with Noreen despite her parents’ warning her not to run with a “fast” girl. What would you have done as Gail? As her mother?

5. Gail and Noreen deal with Veronica’s attacks on them in different ways. What has your experience as a teenager and as an adult taught you about dealing with mean queens?

6. What memories or family stories did scenes at the farm, the school, and the fair evoke for you? When you were as student, did you have experiences like Gail’s?