Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt (Caution—spoilers ahead):
1. What can you glean of Frankie Pratt's personality and character from her scrapbook? How would you describe her? Is there depth to Frankie—both as a fictional character and a human being? In other words, does the scrapbook medium lend itself to character development? If so, how has the author achieved it?
2. What takes place—what is said—between Frankie's mother and Mrs. Pingree? Exactly what kind of "deal" is struck? What do you make of the check for $1,000?
3. How does Frankie differ from her Vassar roommate? How would you describe Allegra Wolf? What influence does she have on Frankie—is it a healthy influence or not? Why does Allegra cultivate Frankie's friendship? What does Frankie gain from the relationship?
4. What about the types of literature the two roommates are drawn to? How do their literary preferences differ...and what do those differences suggest about the young women?
5. During Christmas break of her freshman year, Frankie realizes her mother has "taken on extra nursing jobs to make ends meet." Mrs. Pratt says to her daughter, "I'm so glad you escaped." How does Frankie feel about the sacrifice her mother is making? What are your thoughts?
6. Throughout the book, Frankie is exposed to people of wealth and privilege—with Mrs. Pingree, at Vassar, in New York, on the Mauritania, and in Paris. To what extent do these class distinctions shape Frankie's approach to life?
7. Why is Frankie drawn to Edna St. Vincent Millay? Talk about Millay's poem, "Lament," and its expression of loss. Why does the poem appeal to Frankie?
8. Why does Allegra Wolf not want to introduce Frankie to her brother Oliver? What is Oliver's reasoning?
9. What do you make of Captain Pingree? What are his feelings toward Frankie during the summer she works for his mother and during her stay in Paris? Are his intentions "honorable"? Why does he wish her to leave Paris?
10. In what way is Frankie a sort of Forrest Gump figure?
11. Would you say that Frankie exemplifies the typical woman of her time...or does she challenge accepted mores?
12. Talk about your experience reading the scrapbook-as-novel. What do you think of using such as a medium as the basis for a novel? Does it work? Is it as rich an experience as reading a novel of words? Richer? Have you read other graphic novels before? What about other modes of literary "text"—letters, diaries, newspaper clippings, email, PowerPoint (Jennifer Egan's Goon Squad), or Twitter? How successful are these mediums, particularly the newer ones? Why do authors attempt them—what do you think they want to accomplish?
13. The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt is considered historical fiction as well as a graphic novel. Does Caroline Preston's use of memorabilia—photos, ads, book jackets, ticket stubs, buttons, menus, and more—enhance your understanding of the 1920s and '30s? What have you learned about the era that you didn't know before?
14. What does Frankie Pratt learn by the end of the novel? Has she matured or grown? If so, in what ways?
15. Are you satisfied with the ending? Has Frankie sacrificed her dreams by returning to New Hampshire? Has she given up...or has she gained something more valuable? Will her life as a wife exclude life as a writer?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)