An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (A Carls Book-1)
Hank Green, 2018
Penguin Publishing
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781524743444
Summary
In his much-anticipated debut novel, Hank Green—co-creator of Crash Course, Vlogbrothers, and SciShow—spins a sweeping, cinematic tale about a young woman who becomes an overnight celebrity before realizing she's part of something bigger, and stranger, than anyone could have possibly imagined.
The Carls just appeared.
Roaming through New York City at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture.
Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship—like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor—April and her friend, Andy, make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube.
The next day, April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world—from Beijing to Buenos Aires—and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight.
Seizing the opportunity to make her mark on the world, April now has to deal with the consequences her new particular brand of fame has on her relationships, her safety, and her own identity.
And all eyes are on April to figure out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us.
Compulsively entertaining and powerfully relevant, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing grapples with big themes, including how the social internet is changing fame, rhetoric, and radicalization; how our culture deals with fear and uncertainty; and how vilification and adoration spring for the same dehumanization that follows a life in the public eye.
The beginning of an exciting fiction career, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a bold and insightful novel of now. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—May 5, 1980
• Where—Birmingham, Alabama, USA
• Education—B.S., Eckerd College; M.S. University of Montana
• Currently—lives in Missoula, Montana
Hank Green is the CEO of Complexly, a production company that creates educational content, including Crash Course and SciShow, prompting The Washington Post to name him “one of America’s most popular science teachers.”
Complexly’s videos have been viewed more than two billion times on YouTube.
Green cofounded a number of other small businesses, including DFTBA.com, which helps online creators make money by selling cool stuff to their communities; and VidCon, the world’s largest conference for the online video community. In 2017, VidCon drew more than forty thousand attendees across three events in Anaheim, Amsterdam, and Australia.
Hank and his brother, John, also started the Project for Awesome, which last year raised more than two million dollars for charities, including Save the Children and Partners in Health. Hank lives in Montana with his wife, son, and cat. (From the publishers.)
Book Reviews
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a thrilling journey that takes a hard look at the power of fame and our willingness to separate a person from the brand. Green manages to blend humor, mystery and science fiction in his fast-paced debut novel.
Lincee Ray - Washington Post
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a thrilling journey that takes a hard look at the power of fame and our willingness to separate a person from the brand. Green manages to blend humor, mystery and science fiction in his fast-paced debut novel.”
Associated Press
With this comic story about the ugly side of Internet fame, Green gives his brother John (The Fault in Our Stars) a run for his money.
People
A quirky millennial mix of sci-fi alien mystery, celebrity and social media commentary.
Family Circle
Hank Green, super-vlogger and brother to YA legend John, pens the heart-warmer An Absolutely Remarkable Thing.
Cosmopolitan
Packed with meditations on the nature of celebrity, social media, and the cultural response to the unknown.
Harper Bazaar
A quirky millennial mix of sci-fi alien mystery, celebrity and social media commentary.
Family Circle
It’s not in the nature of a sci-fi comedy blockbuster to shift boulders in your soul. But with his debut novel, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, Hank Green pulls it off.… There are still a few exceptionally remarkable things that rise above the rest of their absolutely remarkable peers. In the pages of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, April’s discovery of New York Carl is one of these exceptions; in the real world, Green’s debut deserves to be another."
Paste Magazine
[A] comic debut that combines science fiction and mystery with philosophical musings about the perils of internet fame.… Though the ending is disappointing (it appears to be setting up a sequel), fans… will find his humor and perceptiveness intact in this novel.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review) Led by an earnestly flawed, bisexual heroine with direction and commitment issues, coupled with an abundant generosity of spirit, this read is timely and sorely needed. Highly recommended.
Library Journal
(Starred review) Green makes an entertaining book debut in this fast-paced, witty first contact novel…At once funny, exciting, and a tad terrifying, this exploration of aliens and social media culture is bound to have wide appeal to readers interested in either theme.
Booklist
(Starred review) [Green] applies wit, affection, and cultural intelligence to a comic sci-fi novel.… A fun, contemporary adventure that cares about who we are as humans, especially when faced with remarkable events.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Upon seeing Carl for the first time, April says, "And here I am, hardened by big-city life and mentally drained by hours of pixel pushing, not even giving something so magnificent a second glance." Have you ever found yourself in a situation where being jaded prevented you from noticing or acknowledging something special?
2. What do you think we can all do to stay more present in these moments?What do you think it is about New York City that bars its denizens from noticing something strange, like Carl? And what does it say about April that she was the only one to stop and notice?
3. Andy remains a constant in April May’s life, while Maya, Miranda, her parents, her agent and assistant, and many others float in and out of it throughout the book. Do you see Andy as a good friend or an enabler? What effect does he have on April’s actions?
4. Are there people in media and entertainment that April May reminds you of? How are their journeys similar to or different from April May’s journey? How do they handle stardom and how might April May have learned from their experiences, good or bad?
5. Though Robin suggests that April stay in a stable relationship as she navigates her burgeoning fame, why do you think April ends her relationship with Maya? What are the motivating factors there?
6. When pondering what Carl is, Miranda brings up Occam’s razor. What do you think of the notion of Occam’s razor—that the simplest solution tends to be the correct one? Recall a time where Occam’s razor made sense in your life.
7. What is the significance of the Sherman photography that April stops to examine, and how does it equate to the power that the owner of the photograph, the talent agent Jennifer Putnam, wields?
8. What are the different ideologies of the Dreamers and the Defenders? Can you find any real-world implications of each group’s beliefs and actions?
9. Throughout An Absolutely Remarkable Thing we see the impact that social media has on April’s life and the lives of the people who love her. Is social media a big part of your life? How do you represent yourself online? Have you made any specific personal choices with regard to social media?
10 Of all the issues Hank Green explores—the price of fame, the struggle to connect with our fellow humans, the hope (and perhaps fear) of life beyond our earth—what do you think An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is ultimately about?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
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A Spark of Light
Jodi Picoult, 2018
Random House
384 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780345544988
Summary
A powerful and provocative new novel about ordinary lives that intersect during a heart-stopping crisis.
The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors.
Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.
After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.
But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters:
- A nurse who calms her own panic in order to save the life of a wounded woman.
- A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before.
- A pro-life protester, disguised as a patient, who now stands in the crosshairs of the same rage she herself has felt.
- A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.
Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.
One of the most fearless writers of our time, Jodi Picoult tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent?
A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation … and, hopefully, understanding. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—May 19, 1966
• Where—Nesconset (Long Island), New York, USA
• Education—B.A., Princeton University; M.Ed., Harvard University
• Currently—lives in Hanover, New Hampshire
Jodi Lynn Picoult is an American author. She was awarded the New England Bookseller Award for fiction in 2003. Picoult currently has approximately 14 million copies of her books in print worldwide.
Early life and education
Picoult was born and raised in Nesconset on Long Island in New York State; when she was 13, her family moved to New Hampshire. Even as a child, Picoult had a penchant for writing stories: she wrote her first story— "The Lobster Which Misunderstood"—when she was five.
While still in college—she studied writing at Princeton University—Picoult published two short stories in Seventeen magazine. To pay the bills, after graduation she worked at a variety of jobs, including copy writing and editing textbooks; she even taught eighth-grade English and attained a Masters in Education from Harvard University.
In 1989, Picoult married Timothy Warren Van Leer, whom she met in college, and while pregnant with their first child, wrote her first book. Song of the Humpbacked Whale, her literary debut, came out in 1992. Two more children followed, as did a string of bestseller novels. All told, Picoult has more than 20 books to her name.
Writing
At an earlier time in her life, Picoult believed the tranquility of family life in small-town New England offered little fodder for writing; the truly interesting stuff of fiction happened elsewhere. Ironically, it is small-town life that has ended up providing the settings for Picoult's novels. Within the cozy surroundings of family and friends, Picoult weaves complex webs of relationships that strain, even tear apart, under stress. She excels at portraying ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Disoriented by some accident of chance, they stumble, whirl, and attempt to regain a footing in what was once their calm, ordered world.
Nor has Picoult ever shied from tackling difficult, controversial issues: school shooting, domestic violence, sexual abuse, teen suicide, and racism. She approaches painful topics with sympathy—and her characters with respect—while shining a light on individual struggles. Her legions of readers have loved and rewarded her for that compassion—and her novels have been consistent bestsellers.
Personal life
Picoult and her husband Timothy live in Hanover, New Hampshire. They have three children and a handful of pets. (Adapted from a 2003 Barnes and Noble interview and from Wikipedia. Retrieved 9/28/2016.)
Book Reviews
Picoult at her fearless best.… Timely, balanced and certain to inspire debate.
Washington Post
The author presents the white-knuckled narrative in a reverse-chronological order. The effect is mesmerizing, as Picoult establishes moments in the overarching event, before revealing how they came to be.
Houston Chronicle
Drama abounds in Picoult’s latest issue-driven novel…. Picoult’s extensive research shines throughout, but the book’s reverse chronological structure interferes with the complicated back stories…. Nevertheless, this is a powerful story that brings clarity to the history of abortion.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review) Picoult has achieved what politicians across the spectrum have not been able to: humanized a hot-button issue. Excellent for book clubs, this should also be considered for discussions in critical thinking and political debate. —Julie Kane, Washington & Lee Lib., Lexington, VA
Library Journal
(Starred review) Picoult delivers another riveting yarn …in this carefully crafted, utterly gripping tale.
Booklist
At times, Picoult defaults to her habitual sentimentality…. Novels such as this extensively researched and passionate polemic are not necessarily art, but, like Sinclair Lewis’ The Jungle, they are necessary.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. The story is narrated from the points of view of ten different characters. Why do you think the author chose to include so many different perspectives? Was there a voice that you connected to most strongly? Did you have difficulty connecting with any characters?
2. Regardless of their feelings on the issue of abortion, many characters are preoccupied with being a good parent. Why do you think it means to be a good parent?
3. Initially, Joy and Janine seem to stand on opposite sides of the pro-life/pro-choice debate. By the end, do you think they have found common ground? Do you understand where each one is coming from? Is it possible to form a connection with someone with opposing viewpoints and still maintain a commitment to one’s own beliefs?
4. At one point, Rachel, the employee who escaped from the Center, accuses Allen and his fellow protestors of being responsible for the hostage crisis situation: "If people like you didn’t spout the bullshit you do, people like him wouldn’t exist." Is this a fair accusation? Is there a point at which one does not have the right to voice one’s beliefs? If so, where should that line be drawn?
5. Did your feelings about the issue of abortion evolve during the reading of this novel, and, if so, how?
6. By the end of the book, we discover that these characters’ lives are interwoven in more ways than one and that each individual has a deeper story than we expected. Were you surprised by any of the interconnections? Which twist struck you the most strongly?
7. Did anything about Jodi’s research surprise you? What did you learn?
8. Did Jodi’s Author Note change your reading experience at all?
9. A Spark of Light is different than the traditional novel structure. How did you feel about the events of the story unfolding backwards? Did this structure affect your reading experience?
(Questions issued by the publishers.)
The Mountains Sing
Nguyen Phan Que Mai, 2020
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781616208189
Summary
With the epic sweep of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko or Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing and the lyrical beauty of Vaddey Ratner’s In the Shadow of the Banyan, The Mountains Sing tells an enveloping, multigenerational tale of the Tran family, set against the backdrop of the Viet Nam War.
Tran Dieu Lan, who was born in 1920, was forced to flee her family farm with her six children during the Land Reform as the Communist government rose in the North.
Years later in Ha Noi, her young granddaughter, Huong, comes of age as her parents and uncles head off down the Ho Chi Minh Trail to fight in a conflict that tore not just her beloved country, but her family apart.
Vivid, gripping, and steeped in the language and traditions of Viet Nam, The Mountains Sing brings to life the human costs of this conflict from the point of view of the Vietnamese people themselves, while showing us the true power of kindness and hope.
The Mountains Sing is celebrated Vietnamese poet Nguyen Phan Que Mai's first novel in English. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1973
• Where—Ninh Bình Province, North Vietnam
• Raised—Bac Lieu Province, South Vietnam
• Education—B.A., from Australia; M.F.A., Lancaster Univiversity (UK)
• Awards—(see below)
• Currently—lives in Jakarta, Indonesia
Nguyen Phan Que Mai (gwen-fawn-kway-my; first name, Que Mai) was born in a small village of war torn Northern Vietnam and grew up witnessing the war’s devastation and its aftermath. When she was six years old, her family moved to the Mekong Delta in the southern part of Vietnam.
She worked as a street seller and rice farmer before winning a scholarship to attend a university in Australia. Returning to her home country, she worked worked for various organizations, including the United Nations, to promote Viet Nam's sustainable development. She has also worked extensively with veterans and war victims.
Nguyen also earned her M.F.A. from Lancaster University in the U.K. Her eight books of poetry, fiction and nonfiction, originally published in Vietnamese, have been translated and published in more than ten countries. Her work has also appeared in the W.W. Norton & Company's anthology, Inheriting the War: Poetry and Prose by Descendants of Vietnam Veterans and Refugees (2017).
Awards and honors
2007 - Story about My Life (youth newspaper) Award: writing competition
2010 - Vietnamese Writers Association: advancement of Vietnamese literature overseas
2010 - Hanoi Writers Association: Poetry of the Year Award
2010 - Vietnam Writers Association, Literature Newspaper, and Hanoi Television: poetry
2010 - Vietnam Writers Association, Literature Newspaper. and Hanoi Television: translation
Married to a European diplomat, Nguyeni is currently living in Jakarta with her two teenage children. (Adapted from online sources, including the author's website.)
Book Reviews
A luminous, complex family narrative…. The Mountains Sing affirms the individual's right to think, read, and act according to a code of intuitive civility, borne out of Vietnam's fertile and compassionate cultural heritage.
NPR
The Mountains Sing is a mult-igenerational epic about a family torn apart by war and the efforts of its various members to survive. It is also the missing narrative of the American War in Vietnam…. Nguyen’s poetic descriptions and deep affection for her characters allow the reader to feel for the Tran family’s many vicissitudes.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
An historical novel that portrays Vietnamese strength in the face of adversity…. I came away at the end of the book with a new appreciation for the courage and resourcefulness of the Vietnamese.
Washington Independent Review of Books
(Starred review) [L]yrical, sweeping debut novel chronicles the Tran family through a century of war and renewal.… Nguyen brilliantly explores… what a writer shares with the world and what remains between family. [A] brilliant, unsparing love letter to Vietnam….
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review) An engrossing story of family, adversity, war, loss, and triumph…. Recalling Min Jin Lee and Lisa See, Nguyen displays a lush and captivating storyteller’s gift as she effortlessly transports readers to another world, leaving them wishing for more.
Library Journal
Balances the unrelenting devastation of war with redemptive moments of surprising humanity.
Booklist
(Starred review) A sweeping tale of one family's shifting fortunes in Vietnam across half a century…. For all the loss Nguyen depicts, though, her story is invitingly and gracefully told…. A richly imagined story of severed bonds amid conflict.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. There are many major historical events featured in the novel. How much did you know about these events before you read The Mountains Sing? Did the story show you a new side to any events you were already familiar with?
2. Many of the characters in The Mountains Sing experience terrible things, and some of them must make difficult choices. Each of them handles their experiences differently. Te Son ca helps Huong on her journey. What other objects, memories, people, or conversations help each character to endure and recover?
3. How does Grandma Dieu Lan help her children after their return? What might her relationships with her children reveal about family relationships in Viet Nam?
4. War stories are often told from a male perspective. In The Mountains Sing, Huong and Grandma Dieu Lan take turns narrating their stories. How might the novel differ if it had male narrators? Why do you think the author chose to have women and girls tell the story instead?
5. Which character did you feel the most sympathetic toward? Te least? Is that different from which character you like the most and least, and if so, why?
6. "I was determined to sing on. I learned then that as long as I have my voice, I am still alive," says Grandma Dieu Lan. Give examples of music and poetry that are represented in the novel. How important do you think music and poetry are in the Vietnamese culture? How important are
they in your own culture?
7. In addition to descriptions of war and pain, The Mountains Sing features many descriptions of gorgeous landscapes, interesting city sights, and delicious foods. Were there any locations that you would like to visit or have visited? Any foods you would like to try or have tried?
8. According to Huong, proverbs are the essence of Vietnamese wisdom, passed orally from one generation to the next, even before the written Vietnamese language existed. Two examples are Trongcai rui co cai may (Good luck hides inside bad luck) and Ac gia ac bao (Cruelty dispensed, cruelty returned). Do these proverbs ring true for you? Were there other proverbs that resonated with you as particularly true or meaningful?
9. In The Mountains Sing, Vietnamese names and words appear with their full diacritical marks. For Vietnamese speakers, these marks are necessary to interpret meaning: for example, the words ma, mả, má, mà, mạ, and mã all have separate meanings (ghost, grave, mother, but, young rice plant, and horse, respectively). Nonetheless, it is unusual for an American novel to include the marks. Did their inclusion affect your reading experience? How?
10. Huong thinks that if people are willing to learn about other cultures, there will be no war on earth. Do you think Huong feels differently about America and American people because of her reading? What books have made your world bigger?
11. Grandma says, "If our stories survive, we will not die, even when our bodies are no longer here on this earth." The Mountains Sing is inspired by some of the experiences of the author’s family. What stories from your own family can be written into a novel? Do you know of any fictional stories that remind you of your own family story?
12. Had you previously read other books from or about Viet Nam? How is theViet Nam portrayed in The Mountains Sing similar to or different from the Viet Nam you already knew?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
The Witch Elm
Tana French, 2018
Penguin Publishing
528 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780735224629
Summary
Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who's dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life—he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead.
Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family's ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo.
Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden—and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.
A spellbinding standalone from one of the best suspense writers working today, The Witch Elm asks what we become, and what we're capable of, when we no longer know who we are. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1973
• Where—Vermont, USA
• Education—B.A., Trinity College (Dublin)
• Awards—Edgar Award, Macavity Award, Barry Award
• Currently—lives in Dublin, Ireland
Tana French is an Irish novelist and theatrical actress. Her debut novel In the Woods (2007), a psychological mystery, won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards for best first novel. She is a liaison of the Purple Heart Theatre Company and also works in film and voiceover.
French was born in the U.S. to Elena Hvostoff-Lombardi and David French. Her father was an economist working in resource management for the developing world, and the family lived in numerous countries around the globe, including Ireland, Italy, the US, and Malawi.
French attended Trinity College, Dublin, where she was trained in acting. She ultimately settled in Ireland. Since 1990 she has lived in Dublin, which she considers home, although she also retains citizenship in the U.S. and Italy. French is married and has a daughter with her husband.
Dublin Murder Squad series
In the Woods - 2007
The Likeness - 2008
Faithful Place - 2010
Broken Harbor - 2012
The Secret Places - 2014
The Trespasser - 2016
Stand-alone mystery
The Witch Elm - 2018
(Bio adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 9/2/2014.)
Book Reviews
You savor the details—the delicious portrayal of crisp fall weather in Ireland—as you race through the pages.… A tick-tocking mystery and a fascinating portrayal of memory as a cracked mirror, through which the past can’t quite be seen clearly.
Seattle Times
Head-spinning.… French has spun an engrossing meditation on memory, identity, and family. A master of psychological complexity, she toys with the minds of her characters and readers both.
Vogue
Spooky.
Entertainment Weekly
A thrilling novel about privilege, family lore, and perception.
PopSugar
The crime writer for people who think they don’t like genre fiction. Her prose is enveloping and intricate, but casually masks its cleverness. She sucks you in with mystery, then unfurls a masterfully rendered, super specific slice of Irish society.
Vogue.com
Exquisitely suspenseful.
Bustle
Tana French’s The Witch Elm is a chilling mystery about the unreliability of memory.
Real Simple
(Starred review) [A]s good as the best of [French's other] novels, if not better… using the driving mystery …as a vehicle for asking complex questions about identity and human nature.… [A] chilling interrogation of privilege and the transformative effects of trauma.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review) French's slow-burning, character-driven examination of male privilege is timely, sharp, and meticulously crafted. Recommended for her legions of fans, as well as any readers of literary crime fiction.—Stephanie Klose
Library Journal
(Starred review) [A] spellbinding stand-alone novel carefully crafted in her unique, darkly elegant prose style…, and the reader gets pulled into the vortex right along with [the characters]. —Jane Murphy
Booklist
The pace is slow, but the story is compelling, and French is deft in unraveling this book’s puzzles. Readers will see some revelations coming…, but there are some shocking twists, too. Psychologically intense.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. The novel opens and closes with Toby telling the reader that he considers himself a lucky person. Do you agree that he is lucky? When he says his luck is part of who he is, what do you think he means?
2. The novel begins with Toby getting caught covering for his coworker Tiernan, who is pretending to be an underprivileged teen artist. Toby is relieved at having dodged serious consequences, and doesn’t think his lie was particularly important. How did you feel when you first encountered Toby at the beginning of the novel? As the story progressed, did he absorb the significance of his lie?
3. Rather than focusing purely on who committed the crime, much of The Witch Elm examines how many people’s actions contributed to Dominic’s death. When you finished the novel, how did you feel about these questions of culpability? Did you see Toby as a victim, an accessory, or something more complicated?
4. For most of the novel, Toby stands by his belief that he’s a good person. But then Susanna and Leon tell him about their struggles with Dominic in high school, and about how Toby failed to help them. Did their stories change your opinion of Toby? Do you agree with Susanna and Leon that his obliviousness carried a certain amount of culpability?
5. Melissa sticks by Toby throughout most of the investigation, and only leaves after the drunken evening when Toby tries to trick Savannah and Leon into confessing. In your opinion, what about that conversation was the final straw for her?
6. Throughout the novel, Toby’s uncle Hugo is dying of brain cancer. How does Hugo’s deterioration fit thematically with Toby’s own struggles with his mind?
7. Once the string from Toby’s hoodie is found inside of the tree, he becomes afraid that he was involved in Dominic’s death. Why do you think he suspects himself so quickly?
8. After the attack in his apartment, Toby notices that his mental capacities are impaired. He believes himself to be unreliable. How reliable a narrator did you find Toby? How did that affect the novel?
9. While Toby repeats how much he loves Melissa, he often hides things from her, including his physical and mental health problems and his fears about his role in Dominic’s murder. Why do you think he does not tell her the full truth? Is he protecting her, protecting himself, or underestimating her?
10. Susanna states that Dominic’s harassment drove her to murder. Do you believe her reasoning? Do you have sympathy for Susanna?
11. Hugo turns himself in for Dominic’s murder. Both Toby and Rafferty think Hugo was protecting Toby. Susanna believes Hugo was oblivious to her actions during the summer Dominic was killed. Do you think Hugo knew more than he let on? Was he protecting Toby, or Susanna and Leon?
12. This novel is set in and around Dublin. How does the Irish setting contribute to the novel? Would the characters have different choices to make if the novel were set in America?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
Followers
Megan Angelo, 2020
Graydon House Books
384 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781525836268
Summary
An electrifying story of two ambitious friends and the dark choices they make to become internet famous.
Orla Cadden is a budding novelist stuck in a dead-end job, writing clickbait about movie-star hookups and influencer yoga moves.
Then Orla meets Floss—a striving, wannabe A-lister—who comes up with a plan for launching them both into the high-profile lives they dream about.
So what if Orla and Floss’s methods are a little shady—and sometimes people get hurt? Their legions of followers can’t be wrong.
Thirty-five years later, in a closed California village where government-appointed celebrities live every moment of the day on camera, a woman named Marlow discovers a shattering secret about her past. Despite her massive popularity—twelve million loyal followers—Marlow dreams of fleeing the corporate sponsors who would do anything to keep her on-screen.
When she learns that her whole family history is based on a lie, Marlow finally summons the courage to run in search of the truth, no matter the risks.
Followers traces the paths of Orla, Floss and Marlow as they wind through time toward each other, and toward a cataclysmic event that sends America into lasting upheaval.
At turns wry and tender, bleak and hopeful, this darkly funny story reminds us that even if we obsess over famous people we’ll never meet, what we really crave is genuine human connection. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1983-84
• Where—Quakerstown, Pennsylvania, USA
• Education—Villanova University
• Currently—lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Megan Angelo grew up in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, graduating from Villanova University in Philadelphia. The fiction bug bit Angelo early on; she recalls rolling pieces o scrap paper into her parents' typewriter and inventing "very creepy, tragic, dark stories." Fortunately, teachers from elementary school on up through high, encouraged her to continue.
An internship at the Philadelphia Inquirer started Angelo on a path toward journalism, and a second internship placed her at a highly coveted spot at Conde Nast. Upon graduation, she stayed in New York, accepting a job at Nast as editorial assistant. After Nast closed the small imprint she had worked for, Angelo supported herself as a freelance writer. Finally, she hit pay dirt: a job as contributing editor at Glamour.
In 2010, Angelo married a high school classmate, and in 2012 the couple moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. They started a family, which now includes three children. All the while, Angelo continued writing until, in 2020, she published Followers, her first novel.
As a freelancer, Angelo's writing has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Glamour and Elle, among other publications. She continues to live in Pennsylvania with her family. (Adapted from the publisher and online sources.)
Book Reviews
Megan Angelo’s Followers, with its terrific writing about terrifying ideas, is destined to be such a talker that you must read it immediately or risk being out of the loop when your friends start saying things like "She’s such a Marlow!" or "What Would Floss Do?"
Washington Post
Followers is an engaging confection wrapped around a thoughtful critique of how we live our lives online, and how we value others based on their curated personas.
USA Today
This dark, pitch-perfect novel about our dependence on technology for validation and human connection is as addictive as social media itself.
People
[A] dark, witty, astute debut novel.
Slate
As addictive as the social media it questions.
Parade
One of next year's most anticipated books… a scathing, razor-sharp take on the future of humanity and social media
Entertainment Weekly
A compelling look at the power of technology and social networks. You won’t be able to put it down.
Vogue.com
(Starred review) [S]pectacular… Angelo masterfully explores the dark side of social media. [T]he tale skillfully builds to a terrifyingly believable climax…. Angelo delivers a strong, consistently fascinating debut.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review) Angelo… weaves in a perspective on contemporary political decisions and the effect they could have on us all in the not-so-distant future. This is an intricate and brave story of friendship, ambition, and love and the lengths people will go to protect it all.
Booklist
(Starred review) [T]he joy of details continues all the way to a denouement in Atlantis (formerly Atlantic City), where the… two plotlines are untangled and confirmed. Endless clever details and suspenseful plotting make this speculative-fiction debut an addictive treat.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Marlow’s story, in 2051, imagines a gentle extrapolation of the technologies we have now. What do you think future versions of our technology might look like, and how might they impact our lives? Think of other books, movies, or TV shows that imagine a near future. What is different or similar about this one?
2. Marlow lives a life that seems glamorous, but that grants her very few choices. What did you make of the things she takes back for herself—like her sense of smell—and what does it mean to her? How different do you think Marlow’s life is from that of current celebrities, especially those who were famous as children?
3. If you had to choose between the incredible fame that Floss, Orla, and Marlow experience—and all the wealth and power it brings—or absolute freedom and privacy, which would you choose?
4. Orla and Floss have a complicated bond. Are they friends, exactly, or something more difficult to define? What did you make of their relationship?
5. Why do you think Honey dresses in and surrounds herself with white?
6. How does being a father affect Aston’s character development?
7. Think about the things that Orla and Floss want, respectively. How different do you think they are? How alike?
8. Followers raises many questions about privacy in our digital age. What do we give up and what do we gain with devices that make our lives easier? Does easier necessarily mean better? What kinds of choices are we making every day, without even realizing we’re making them? What do these choices cost us?
9. Discuss Orla’s relationship with her parents, Gayle and Jerry, and to her hometown of Mifflin, Pennsylvania.
10. Marlow is forced to make a terrible choice about her reproductive freedom. Reflect on this choice in light of our current society and the restrictions it places on women’s rights.
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
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