Long Bright River
Liz Moore, 2020
Penguin Publisher
496 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780525540670
Summary
Two sisters travel the same streets, though their lives couldn't be more different. Then one of them goes missing.
In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds.
One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don't speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling.
Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey's district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit—and her sister—before it's too late.
Alternating its present-day mystery with the story of the sisters' childhood and adolescence, Long Bright River is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: a gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—May 25, 1983
• Raised—Framingham, Massachusetts, USA
• Education—B.A., Barnard College; M.F.A., Hunter College
• Awards—Rome Prize in Literature
• Currently—lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylania
Liz Moore is an American author with several novels under her name. Raised in Massachusetts, she attended Barnard College for her BA and Hunter College for an M.F.A. in Creative Writing. Both colleges are in New York City.
Her decision to remain in New York, working as a musician, inspired her first novel, The Words of Every Song (2007). Following its publication, Moore shifted her focus to writing, subsequently publishing the novels Heft (2012) and The Unseen World (2016).
Moore received the 2014 Rome Prize in Literature from the American Academy in Rome, and Heft was longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
Moore now lives in Philadelphia, the city on which she based her third novel, Long Bright River, a police procedural and family drama centered on addiction. She lives there with her husband and daughter. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 2/24/2020.)
Book Reviews
"Satisfyingly, the characters’ interior lives are as important as the mysteries that propel the action (10 Books to Watch for January].
New York Times
[E]xtraordinary…. [T]he mundane has been made menacing…. Moore is an astute social observer. Her depictions of Mickey’s isolation are sharp-eyed to the point of pain…. Moore is every bit as deft in constructing suspense… nervously twists, turns and subverts readers’ expectations till its very last pages. Simultaneously, it also manages to grow into something else: a sweeping, elegiac novel about a blighted city. As Chandler did for various sections of Los Angeles, Moore—who lives in Philadelphia—excavates Kensington and surrounding areas in Philadelphia, illuminating the rot, the shiny facades of gentrification and the sturdy endurance of small pockets of community life.
Maureen Corrigan - Washington Post
[A] novel 10 years in the making that bears witness to the author’s extensive research and first-hand experience of the lives of those who fall through the cracks… is being marketed as a thriller, but, as with the best crime novels, its scope defies the constraints of genre; it is family drama, history and social commentary wrapped up in the compelling format of a police procedural…. [A]lthough the tropes are familiar to the point of cliche, the result feels startlingly fresh.… At the heart of the novel are questions about moral responsibility, and what it means to be honourable. It’s also an exploration of the vulnerability and strength of women. Moore—who volunteers with women’s groups in the area—has created a memorable portrait of the devastation created by poverty and addiction, and the compassion and courage that can rise to meet it.
Guardian (UK)
Deftly plotted with strong, vivid characters, Liz Moore’s outstanding Long Bright River works as solid crime fiction and an intense family thriller.… Moore skillfully explores the sisters' bond from their closeness during their toxic upbringing to the decay of their relationship that seems almost irreparable…. The clever plot and involving characters of Long Bright River set a high standard for this new year.
Associated Press
[E]ectrifying…. In taut, propulsive sentences, Moore draws on the police procedural in conjuring a community on the brink while exploring tensions between two sisters on either side of the thin blue line.… Moore navigates assuredly through plot twists and big reveals… equal parts literary and thrilling—a compassionate, multidimensional look at an epidemic that surrounds us.… it’s got all the ingredients that make for an unputdownable mystery, but it’s got something more, a narrator who leads you into unexpected places, and keeps surprising you until the end.
Oprah Magazine
Moore weaves a police procedural and a family drama into a captivating novel.… Mickey’s personal journey [which] runs parallel to her pursuit is smartly crafted. Filled with strong characters and a layered plot, this will please fans of both genre and literary fiction.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review) In her fourth novel, Rome Prize–winning author Moore blends the reality of today’s deadly opioid crisis with a complicated family dynamic to create an intense mystery with stunning twists and turns. Impossible to put down, impossible to forget. —Beth Anderson, formerly of Ann Arbor Dist. Library
Library Journal
(Starred review) One of the pleasures of this deeply moving, absolutely page-turning novel is the way Moore…slowly peels back layer after layer, revealing the old-boy’s network in the Philadelphia police force…. Give this to readers who like character-driven crime novels with a strong sense of place.
Booklist
A young Philadelphia policewoman searches for her addicted sister on the streets.… The pace is frustratingly slow…, then picks up…toward the end…. With its flat, staccato tone and mournful mood, it's almost as if the book itself were suffering from depression.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. The author sets Long Bright River against one city’s experience of the opioid epidemic, informed by her own research. To what degree do you think the drug crisis in Kensington represents the situation in other regions of the United States? Did reading the plight of Kacey, and its impact on her sister and larger family, make you think about the epidemic any differently? How did the portrayal in the book compare with your understanding of the problem from news, or from your personal life?
2. In this novel, the author combines a crime story with a family drama, as she moves back and forth between present and past, and sets it all against a real and researched city and culture. Which elements moved or compelled you most? Did knowing it was influenced by real life make it more or less powerful for you?
3. While Kacey and Mickey grew up in the same house, they followed vastly diverging paths in adolescence. In what ways were the girls different by nature? Or was it a matter of nurture? Which differences do you think most influenced their fates, and why? What impact did these differences have on their relationship as children, and as adults? What do you think the author is ultimately saying about the connection between family and fate?
4. The author explores the pressures that are put on single parents, juggling child care and an unpredictable work schedule. Did Mickey’s life make you see this in a new way? How did you feel about the ways she manages this juggling? What about the ways she manages her child’s relationship with his father? Do you think such pressures would be different for a man?
5. The vividly drawn neighborhood of Kensington plays a crucial role in the book, becoming almost a character itself, with its own history. How does the author’s portrayal of Kensington contribute to the larger story? Consider the different characters’ feelings about this place, its role in their personal lives, histories, and struggles.
6. Mickey’s Philadelphia is a melting pot of haves and have-nots. What do we learn about class and privilege, and the way they are manifested in the lives of the characters? Consider in particular the times when social tensions emerge as a result of class. Do any of the characters demonstrate class mobility or the ability to socialize across these carefully-drawn lines?
7. How does Mickey’s outlook on justice and the methods and culture of the police department compare with that of her superiors and partners? How do these outlooks compare with your own observations and opinions? In this time of heightened tensions between civilians and police, what do you think about the larger relationship between the police and the community as seen in Long Bright River? Do you think it’s an authentic portrayal?
8. The author explores the concept of addiction in multiple ways in this story. Beyond the obvious heroin addiction, what other kinds of compulsion do you see? For instance, addiction to work, to the chase, to power, to a certain kind of sex or love or support? What role do these other forms of compulsion play in the story? In what ways is the author interested not just in the effects addiction has on the person suffering from it, but also in the effects on that person’s family and friends and, ultimately, community? Which scenes or relationships show this most powerfully?
9. Over the course of her life, Mickey has had many mentors, including Officer Cleare, Mrs. Powell, and even Truman. What impact does each relationship have on the development of Mickey’s character? In what ways do these mentorships dictate her future decisions?
10. Do you think Mickey’s life and profession would have turned out differently if she had been able to go to college as she initially hoped? Would such an education have changed her fate? Why or why not? If not, what would have changed her fate? Or did she end up in the best place for herself, regardless?
11. After their mother, Lisa, dies, Mickey and Kacey are left to live with their grandmother Gee, but Mickey begins to play the role of a pseudo-mother to Kacey. Analyze the mother-daughter relationships presented in the novel: Gee to Lisa; Lisa to Mickey; Gee to Mickey and Kacey; Mickey to Kacey; Mickey to Thomas. How are these parenting styles different, and in what ways are they similar?
12. What is the novel saying about the development of community and the importance of neighbors? Consider the role of Mrs. Mahon in the story, and of the informal network of relationships that Mickey and Truman have with shopkeepers and others on the Avenue. What different types of communities are portrayed in the book?
13. The author launches several mysteries in the course of the story. The biggest and most obvious are established early on: Who is killing young women in the neighborhood, and what has happened to Kacey? Were you surprised by the resolutions of these questions in the end? Were you more surprised by the information that is revealed, or by the way in which emerged Did you have competing suspicions or theories?
14. There are also several smaller mysteries or questions propelling the storytelling, such as what is going on with Truman, or with Gee, or with Mickey’s other relatives, or what happened in Mickey’s past to bring her and her child to this new apartment. Some of these are mysteries only to the reader, as certain information is slowly released by the narrative; and some of these are mysteries to Mickey as well. Which unknowns compelled you most, and why? Which surprised you most? Did you see any of the revelations coming, and if so, when and why?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
There There
Tommy Orange, 2018
Knopf Doubleday
302 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780525520375
Summary
As we learn the reasons that each person is attending the Big Oakland Powwow—some generous, some fearful, some joyful, some violent—momentum builds toward a shocking yet inevitable conclusion that changes everything.
Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind in shame.
Dene Oxendene is pulling his life back together after his uncle’s death and has come to work at the powwow to honor his uncle’s memory.
Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield has come to watch her nephew Orvil, who has taught himself traditional Indian dance through YouTube videos and will to perform in public for the very first time.
There will be glorious communion, and a spectacle of sacred tradition and pageantry. And there will be sacrifice, and heroism, and loss.
There There is a wondrous and shattering portrait of an America few of us have ever seen. It’s "masterful … white-hot … devastating" (Washington Post) at the same time as it is fierce, funny, suspenseful, thoroughly modern, and impossible to put down.
Here is a voice we have never heard—a voice full of poetry and rage, exploding onto the page with urgency and force. Tommy Orange has written a stunning novel that grapples with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and profound spirituality, and with a plague of addiction, abuse, and suicide.
This is the book that everyone is talking about right now, and it’s destined to be a classic. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—January 19, 1982
• Where—Oakland, California, USA
• Education—M.F.A., Institute of American Indian Arts
• Currently—lives in Angels Camp, California
Tommy Orange is a recent graduate from the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts. He is a 2014 MacDowell Fellow, and a 2016 Writing by Writers Fellow. He is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. He was born and raised in Oakland, California, and currently lives in Angels Camp, California. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
Bravura… There There has so much jangling energy and brings so much news from a distinct corner of American life that it’s a revelation… its appearance marks the passing of a generational baton..
Dwight Garner - New York Times
A new kind of American epic... one that reflects his ambivalence and the complexity of [Orange's] upbringing.
Alexandra Alter - New York Times Book Review
Masterful. White-hot. A devastating debut novel.
Ron Charles - Washington Post
(Starred review) [A] commanding debut…. The propulsion of both the overall narrative and its players are breathtaking as Orange unpacks how decisions of the past mold the present, resulting in a haunting and gripping story.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review) [V]isceral…. A chronicle of domestic violence, alcoholism, addiction, and pain, the book reveals the perseverance and spirit of the characters…a broad sweep of lives of Native American people in Oakland and beyond. —Henry Bankhead, San Rafael P.L., CA
Library Journal
(Starred review) A symphonic debut.… Engrossing.… There There introduces an exciting voice.
Booklist
(Starred review) [A] kaleidoscopic look at Native American life in Oakland, California…. In this vivid and moving book, Orange articulates the challenges and complexities not only of Native Americans, but also of America itself.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. The prologue of There There provides a historical overview of how Native populations were systematically stripped of their identity, their rights, their land, and, in some cases, their very existence by colonialist forces in America. How did reading this section make you feel? How does the prologue set the tone for the reader? Discuss the use of the Indian head as iconography. How does this relate to the erasure of Native identity in American culture?
2. Discuss the development of the "Urban Indian" identity and ownership of that label. How does it relate to the push for assimilation by the United States government? How do the characters in There There navigate this modern form of identity alongside their ancestral roots?
3. Consider the following statement from page 9: "We stayed because the city sounds like a war, and you can’t leave a war once you’ve been, you can only keep it at bay." In what ways does the historical precedent for violent removal of Native populations filter into the modern era? How does violence—both internal and external—appear throughout the narrative?
4. On page 7, Orange states: "We’ve been defined by everyone else and continue to be slandered despite easy-to-look-up-on-the-internet facts about the realities of our histories and current state as a people." Discuss this statement in relation to how Native populations have been defined in popular culture. How do the characters in There There resist the simplification and flattening of their cultural identity? Relate the idea of preserving cultural identity to Dene Oxendene’s storytelling mission.
5. Tony Loneman’s perspective both opens and closes There There. Why do you think Orange made this choice for the narrative? What does Loneman’s perspective reveal about the "Urban Indian" identity? About the landscape of Oakland?
6. When readers are first introduced to Dene Oxendene, we learn of his impulse to tag various spots around the city. How did you interpret this act? How does graffiti culture work to recontextualize public spaces?
7. Discuss the interaction between Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield and Two Shoes that occurs on pages 50–52. How does Opal view Two Shoes’s "Indianness"? What is the import of the Teddy Roosevelt anecdote that he shares with her? How does this relate to the overall theme of narrative and authenticity that occurs throughout There There?
8. Describe the resettlement efforts at Alcatraz. What are the goals for inhabiting this land? What vision does Opal and Jacquie’s mother have for her family in moving to Alcatraz?
9. On page 58, Opal’s mother tells her that she needs to honor her people "by living right, by telling our stories. [That] the world was made of stories, nothing else, and stories about stories." How does this emphasis on storytelling function throughout There There? Consider the relationship between storytelling and power. How does storytelling allow for diverse narratives to emerge? What is the relationship between storytelling and historical memory?
10. On page 77, Edwin Black asserts, "The problem with Indigenous art in general is that it’s stuck in the past." How does the tension between modernity and tradition emerge throughout the narrative? Which characters seek to find a balance between honoring the past and looking toward the future? When is the attempt to do so successful?
11. Discuss the generational attitudes toward spirituality in the Native community in There There. Which characters embrace their elders’ spiritual practices? Who doubts the efficacy of those efforts? How did you interpret the incident of Orvil and the spider legs?
12. How is the city of Oakland characterized in the novel? How does the city’s gentrification affect the novel’s characters? Their attitudes toward home and stability?
13. How is femininity depicted in There There? What roles do the female characters assume in their community? Within their families?
14. Discuss Orvil’s choice to participate in the powwow. What attracts him to the event? Why does Opal initially reject his interest in "Indianness"? How do his brothers react to it?
15. Discuss the Interlude that occurs on pages 134–41. What is the import of this section? How does it provide key contextual information for the Big Oakland Powwow that occurs at the end of the novel? What is the significance of this event and others like it for the Native community?
16. Examine the structure of There There. Why do you think Orange chose to present his narrative using different voices and different perspectives? How do the interlude and the prologue help to bolster the themes of the narrative? What was the most surprising element of the novel to you? What was its moment of greatest impact?
(Questions issued by the publishers.)
The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia
Emma Copely Eisenberg, 2020
Hachette Books
336 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780316449236
Summary
A stunningly written investigation of the murder of two young women—showing how a violent crime casts a shadow over an entire community.
In the early evening of June 25, 1980 in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, two middle-class outsiders named Vicki Durian, 26, and Nancy Santomero, 19, were murdered in an isolated clearing.
They were hitchhiking to a festival known as the Rainbow Gathering but never arrived.
For thirteen years, no one was prosecuted for the "Rainbow Murders," though deep suspicion was cast on a succession of local residents in the community, depicted as poor, dangerous, and backward. In 1993, a local farmer was convicted, only to be released when a known serial killer and diagnosed schizophrenic named Joseph Paul Franklin claimed responsibility.
With the passage of time, as the truth seemed to slip away, the investigation itself caused its own traumas—turning neighbor against neighbor and confirming a fear of the violence outsiders have done to this region for centuries.
Emma Copley Eisenberg spent years living in Pocahontas and re-investigating these brutal acts. Using the past and the present, she shows how this mysterious act of violence has loomed over all those affected for generations, shaping their fears, fates, and the stories they tell about themselves.
In The Third Rainbow Girl, Eisenberg follows the threads of this crime through the complex history of Appalachia, forming a searing and wide-ranging portrait of America-its divisions of gender and class, and of its violence. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
Emma Copley Eisenberg is the author of the true crime story, The Third Rainbow Girl, published in 2020.
Other work has appeared in Granta, VQR, McSweeney's, Tin House, Paris Review online, New Republic, Salon, Slate, and elsewhere.
She has received support from the Millay Colony for the Arts, the Elizabeth George Foundation, Lambda Literary, and the New Economy Coalition. Her reporting has been recognized by GLAAD, the New York Association of Black Journalists, the Deadline Club and Longreads' Best Crime Reporting 2017.
Eisenberg lives in Philadelphia, where she co-directs Blue Stoop, a community hub for the literary arts. (Adapted from the publisher.)
Book Reviews
[A]n evocative and elegantly paced examination of the murders that takes a prism-like view of the crime.… [Eisenberg's] unraveling of the brutal double murder is as skilled as her exploration of Pocahontas County, where the men, as much as the women, appear trapped in their predestined societal roles, and where toxic masculinity gnaws at the men, rudderless and lost, who drink to fill the idle hours. But she also digs deeper, beyond the old cliches of insular, backward mountain folk, to find a thriving transgender community and an independent, open-minded streak among the county’s inhabitants…. [This is] not just a masterly examination of a brutal unsolved crime, which leads us through many surprising twists and turns and a final revelation…. It’s also an unflinching interrogation of what it means to be female in a society marred by misogyny, where women hitchhiking alone are harshly judged, even blamed for their own murders.
Melissa Del Bosque - New York Times Book Review
[A] haunting and hard-to-characterize book about restless women and the things that await them on the road.… Because she lived and worked with teenage girls in Pocahontas County on and off for several years but isn't a native, [Eisenberg] is suited to the insider-outsider reporter role.… there's a deeper dimension to The Third Rainbow Girl that gives it its contemplative power. Eisenberg intertwines her own raw story about coming-into-womanhood into the true crime narrative.
Maureen Corrigan - NPR
[A] true crime tale as thoroughly researched and reported as it is perplexing.… [The book] offers a deep-dive into rural Appalachia, a region of the United States that is little understood, and it digs into questions of how deeply misogyny and bias can run inside a community. It is also an honest and endearing coming-of-age tale—one that will leave readers curious to know what Eisenberg will write about next ... Eisenberg's growing personal commitment to the summer camp for teen girls, and to her friends in this complicated rural ecosystem, emerges as the living heartbeat of the book.… [Eisenberg's] relentless reporting and attention to detail are what make the true crime elements of this book so enjoyable.… [It] accomplishes what any good murder mystery should. It shines a spotlight on a nexus of people and a place.… The insights into human nature are the real gritty, good stuff you get from reading a masterful work of journalism like this one.
Rachel Veroff - NPR
[Read this work] as a memoir, as a deeply researched true-crime report, as a work of philosophy. And the language is physical and visceral in its description of both the corporeal and the psychological.… Eisenberg is a skilled researcher, a truth made clear by the troves of detail about the "Rainbow Murders" case, expertly laid out in engaging prose.… Ultimately, the book is about accepting multiplicity and the prismatic nature of truth and justice… a rare find.
Sarah Neilson - Seattle Times
Compelling and sensitive.… The Third Rainbow Girl is not only a meticulously investigated story of a crime and its haunting aftermath, it's also a coming-of-age memoir.
Salon
[A] deeply felt exploration of Appalachia, a land where fault lines of race, gender, and class run deep. Eisenberg, a one-time resident of Pocahontas County, never lets her former home off easy, but instead evokes a portrait at once generous and devastating.
Esquire
If this is a book about a murder, it is also a book about the history of economic exploitation in Appalachia, the systemic biases of the criminal justice system, and the unreliability of memory.
The Nation
[G]ripping… [as the author] blends the case facts with a memoir of her time living in the area…. Part self-discovery and part crime and courtroom drama, … [this] is essential reading for true crime fans.
Publishers Weekly
[S]tunning…Eisenberg delivers the gripping tale of the murders, trial, and subsequent reverberations through the community. The author transcends genre and offers a unique work that is part memoir, part sociological analysis…. [N]ot to be missed. —Mattie Cook, Flat River Community Lib., MI
Library Journal
(Starred review) Eisenberg has crafted a beautiful and complicated ode to West Virginia. Exquisitely written,
this is a powerful commentary on society's notions of gender, violence, and rural America. Readers of literary nonfiction will devour this title in one sitting.
Booklist
[A] genre-straddling debut that blends true crime and memoir.… [Eisenberg] reconstructs the case with a brisk pace and a keen sensitivity…. The compelling second story is, in effect, a memoir of her coming-of-age in Pocahontas County…. [A] nuanced portrait of a crime and its decadeslong effects.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, 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)
(Resources by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)
Convenience Store Woman
Sayaka Murata, 2016 (2018, U.S.)
Grove Atlantic
176 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780802128256
Summary
Keiko Furukura had always been considered a strange child, and her parents always worried how she would get on in the real world.
So when she takes on a job in a convenience store while at university, they are delighted for her.
For her part, in the convenience store she finds a predictable world mandated by the store manual, which dictates how the workers should act and what they should say, and she copies her coworkers’ style of dress and speech patterns so that she can play the part of a normal person.
However, eighteen years later, at age 36, she is still in the same job, has never had a boyfriend, and has only few friends. She feels comfortable in her life, but is aware that she is not living up to society’s expectations and causing her family to worry about her.
When a similarly alienated but cynical and bitter young man comes to work in the store, he will upset Keiko’s contented stasis—but will it be for the better?
Sayaka Murata brilliantly captures the atmosphere of the familiar convenience store that is so much part of life in Japan. With some laugh-out-loud moments prompted by the disconnect between Keiko’s thoughts and those of the people around her, she provides a sharp look at Japanese society and the pressure to conform, as well as penetrating insights into the female mind.
Convenience Store Woman is a fresh, charming portrait of an unforgettable heroine that recalls Banana Yoshimoto, Han Kang, and Amélie. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—August 14, 1979
• Where—Inzai, Chiba Prefecture, Japan
• Education—Tamawaga University
• Awards—Akutagawa Prize (more below)
• Currently—lives in Tokyo, Japan
Sayaka Murata is one of Japan’s most exciting contemporary writers. She has worked for 18 years in a convenience store, which was the inspiration to write Convenience Store Woman, her English-language debut and winner of one of Japan’s most prestigious literary prizes, the Akutagawa Prize.
She was named a Freeman’s "Future of New Writing" author, and her work has appeared in Granta and elsewhere. In 2016, Vogue Japan selected her as a Woman of the Year. (From the publisher.)
Awards
2016 - Akutagawa Prize
2013 - Mishima Yukio Prize
2009 - Noma Literary Prize
2003 - Gunzo Prize for New Writers
Book Reviews
(Starred review) Murata’s smart and sly novel …is a critique of the expectations and restrictions placed on single women in their 30s. This is a moving, funny, and unsettling story about how to be a “functioning adult” in today’s world.
Publishers Weekly
[Murata…uses the characters of Keiko and Shiraha to deliver a thought-provoking commentary on the meaning of conforming to the expectations of society. While Murata’s novel focuses on life in Japanese culture, her storytelling will resonate with all people and experiences.
Library Journal
(Starred review) Murata, herself a part-time "convenience store woman," makes a dazzling English-language debut… rich in scathingly entertaining observations on identity, perspective, and the suffocating hypocrisy of "normal" society.
Booklist
A sly take on modern work culture and social conformism.… Murata provides deceptively sharp commentary on the narrow social slots people—particularly women—are expected to occupy…. A unique and unexpectedly revealing English language debut.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN … then take off on your own:
1. Describe Keiko Furukura. Talk about the various aspects of her behavior that make her an oddball.
2. In what way does Keiko view Small Mart as an almost-utopia. How does her job there lend purpose to her life? Consider, for example, the manual that prescribes how she is to conduct herself with customers. How does she think of her fellow employees?
3. (Follow-up to Question 3) What does it suggest about Keiko's internal life (her soul, her personality) that she can "hear the store's voice telling what it wanted, how it wanted to be." She goes on to say, " I understood it perfectly." What does she mean that she understands the store "perfectly."
4. What is Keiko's relationship with Shiraha? What do you think of him, especially his lectures on the Stone Age—about the men who hunt and those who don't.
5. When Shiraha complains about the convenience store job, Keiko tells him, "Shiraha, we’re in the twenty-first century! Here in the convenience store we’re not men and women. We’re all store workers." What do you think of that statement? What do you think she means by it?
6. What in Japanese society is Convenience Store Woman taking aim at? Does the satire have relevance to our own culture? How would you describe the author's attitude toward Keiko? Is it one of condescension, disapproval, acceptance, admiration? Or does Murato view her heroine in a neutral fashion?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)
The Hate U Give
Angie Thomas, 2017
HarperCollins
464 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780062498533
Summary
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends.
The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family.
What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1987-88
• Where—Jackson, Mississippi, USA
• Education—B.F.A., Belhaven University
• Awards—Walter Dean Myers Grant
• Currently—lives in Jackson, Mississippi
Angie Thomas is an African-American author and former teen rapper. Her debut novel, The Hate U Give, whose manuscript was the object of a 13-publishing-house bidding war, was released in 2016 by a HarperCollins young adult imprint. The book has received wide acclaim, starred reviews, and considered required reading by the New York Times and Entertainment Weekly.
Thomas was raised, and still lives, in Jackson, Mississippi. From a young age, she was enthralled by stories and books. At the age of six, while out riding her bike, she was nearly trapped in the middle of gun fire. After that frightening experience, Angie turned to books and escaped into another world, soon using her own imagination to tell and write stories. Knowing budding talent when she saw it, her third grade teacher asked Angie to read one of her stories to the class every Friday after lunchtime.
Several years on, Thomas became a teen rapper—a proud achievement was a feature article about her in Right-On magazine. Thomas went on to graduate from Belhaven University where she studied creative writing. She won the very first Walter Dean Myers Grant, awarded in 2015 by We Need Diverse Books. (Adapted from various online sources, including the author's website.)
Book Reviews
Through the main character Starr, whose family lives in the projects while she attends a private school in the burbs, Angie Thomas' The Hate U Give delivers a unique perspective to YA readers.… The Hate U Give made me think. And cry. And cringe at the widely varying experience Americans have — depending on their zip code and race. READ MORE …
Abby Fabiaschi, AUTHOR - LitLovers
[A] page turner brimming with pop culture references and humor…I marveled at the balancing act between dead-serious politics and concerns familiar to kids and former kids of all backgrounds. …[T]here's plenty for readers of all ages to enjoy.
Marjorie Ingall - New York Times Book Review
(Starred review.) [H]eartbreakingly topical… authentic.… [A] teenage girl… attempts to reconcile what she knows to be true about their lives with the way those lives are… completely undervalued (Ages 14 & up).
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) The first-person, present-tense narrative is immediate and intense, and the pacing is strong, with Thomas balancing dramatic scenes of violence and protest with moments of reflection.… [A] powerful debut (Gr. 8 & up). —Mahnaz Dar
School Library Journal
(Starred review.) Beautifully written in Starr’s authentic first-person voice, this is a marvel of verisimilitude as it insightfully examines two worlds in collision. An inarguably important book that demands the widest possible readership.
Booklist
(Starred review.) [S]mooth but powerful prose delivered in Starr's natural, emphatic voice, finely nuanced characters, and intricate and realistic relationship dynamics…. This story is necessary. This story is important (Ages 14 & up).
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
As Starr and Khalil listen to Tupac, Khalil explains what Tupac said "Thug Life" meant. Discuss the meaning of the term "Thug Life" as an acronym and why the author might have chosen part of this as the title of the book. In what ways do you see this in society today? (Chapter 1, p. 17)
2. Chapter 2 begins with Starr flashing back to two talks her parents had with her when she was young. One was about sex ("the usual birds and bees"). The second was about what precautions to take when encountering a police officer (Chapter 2, p. 20). Have you had a similar conversation about what to do when stopped by the police? Reflect upon or imagine this conversation.
3. Thomas frequently uses motifs of silence and voice throughout the book. Find instances in the book where silence or voice and speech are noted, and talk about the author’s possible intentions for emphasizing these motifs.
4. At the police station after Starr details the events leading up to the shooting, the detective shifts her focus to Khalil’s past. Why do you think the detective did this? Discuss Starr’s reaction to this "bait" (Chapter 6, pp. 102–103).
5. Once news of Khalil’s shooting spreads across the neighborhood, unrest arises: "Sirens wail outside. The news shows three patrol cars that have been set ablaze at the police precinct.… A gas station near the freeway gets looted.… My neighborhood is a war zone" (Chapter 9, pp. 136–139). Respond to this development and describe some parallels to current events.
6. How do you think Starr would define family? What about Seven? How do you define it?
7. Chris and Starr have a breakthrough in their relationship—Starr admits to him that she was in the car with Khalil and shares the memories of Natasha’s murder (Chapter 17, pp. 298–302). Discuss why Starr’s admission and releasing of this burden to Chris is significant. Explore the practice of "code switching" and discuss how you might code switch in different circumstances in your own life.
8. How and why does the neighborhood react to the grand jury’s decision (Chapter 23)? How does Starr use her voice as a weapon, and why does she feel that it is vital that she does? Refer back to "Thug Life" and discuss how the acronym resonates in this chapter.
9. Starr pledges to "never be quiet" (Chapter 26, p. 444). After reading this book, how can you use your voice to promote and advance social justice? Reflect on how you and your community discuss and address inequality.
(Questions issued by publishers.)