Wildfire (Lowry) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
1. In Chapter One, we meet Julie at a gas station, asking for directions to the Pike Fire Center. What was your first impression of her? How did Julie’s experience of getting lost and duped foreshadow the challenges on her rocky road to acceptance as a hotshot?

2. Written in the first person, Wildfire is Julie’s story, told from Julie’s perspective. If the novel were written in the third person, would it have made you less sympathetic towards its protagonist? Would it have changed your view of the forbidding hotshots’ world?

3. What was your emotional reaction to Julie’s memories of playing with fire at age twelve, after her parents’ death?

4. When did you realize the severity of Julie’s eating disorder? How did being afflicted with bulimia shape Julie as a character? How did it affect your feelings about her?

5. Wildfire centers on Julie’s quest for belonging. Why do you think this young woman, raised by her prim grandmother, feels "at home" on the tough male-dominated turf of wildland firefighters?

6. Do you think Julie signed on to be a hotshot simply as an act of rebellion against Frosty? Or was her motivation driven by something deeper and more complicated?

7. How would you react if your daughter, granddaughter, or niece decided to become a forest firefighter?

8. Discuss Julie’s conflicted relationship with her grandmother. Did you view Frosty as a resentful or a reluctant guardian? What was your initial reaction to Julie’s bitter recollection of Frosty comparing her to her father? How did differences in personality and temperament widen the gulf between Julie and her grandmother?

9. Throughout Wildfire, Julie battles to not only prove her strength and stamina as a rookie, but also to overcome being dismissed purely on the basis of her gender. Are men who routinely brave grave dangers on the job—whether fighting fires, crime, or enemies in combat—justified for putting more pressure on female colleagues to prove their worth?

10. In the course of the novel, another woman takes up residence at the Pike Fire Center. Discuss Julie’s reaction to sharing her female-minority status with Bliss.

11. How did winning the nut roll eating contest mark a significant turning point in Julie’s development?

12. Discuss Julie’s relationship with Sam compared to Julie’s relationship with Archie. Did you see both men as father figures for Julie? Were you surprised when one of those relationships took a romantic turn?

13. Julie feels an intimate bond with Archie after witnessing him narrowly escaping being crushed to death by a falling tree. Have you ever experienced a life-threatening disaster with an acquaintance or stranger? If so, did the experience bring you closer together?

14. Loss is a major theme in the novel. What most struck or impressed you about how Julie handled the tragic loss of Archie?

15. Wildfire captures the unique camaraderie within a hotshot crew. Do you agree with Sam’s assessment that friendship beats romantic love?

16. Wildfire has been optioned for a major motion picture, currently in development, with a script written by Mary Pauline Lowry. If you could cast the movie, who would you choose to play Julie?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)

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