Because In Leah's Wake is a family drama with a story that many parents of teens--and anyone who has been a teen--can relate to, people have been telling me that their book club group plans to read and discuss it. I hope the list of questions I've devised will help to fascilitate your book group's discussion. If you have questions or comments, or if you'd like to arrange for me to meet with your group by phone, I'd love to hear from you. Please send me an e-mail message at terri@tglong.com.
How much control should parents exert over a child’s life?
Do Zoe and Will push Leah too hard?
In what ways do Zoe and Will protect and in what ways do they fail their
children?
How might Zoe and Will have better handled Leah’s rebellion?
Does stress develop internally or is it primarily caused by outside stimuli?
Is Leah’s stress caused by her parents or does it spring from an internal source?
Do Zero-Tolerance policies work? Are they necessary? Should schools ban kids from activities that may keep them out of trouble? Is experimentation ever acceptable? If so, under what conditions? How do parents prevent their children from hurting themselves?
Did Coach Thomas respond properly to Leah’s outburst?
Should Will and Zoe have exercised greater tolerance? Or were they too lax?
How do parents prevent children from falling under the influence of the wrong people?
What might Zoe and Will have done to prevent Leah from associating with Todd?
Should they have banned Todd from their home? Why or why not?
Are a child’s personality and conduct influenced primarily by nature? Or nurture?
How are Justine and Leah’s personalities a result of their parents’ influence?
In what ways might the characteristics Justine and Leah display be inherent?
Are the rules governing proper behavior black and white? How do parents determine when to be firm and when to stand back?
Has Zoe raised an independent child or is she merely rationalizing?
What is the difference between a leader and a follower? A “good” kid and a “bad” kid?
Which of the young people in the novel exhibited these positive and negative
qualities?
Can a man and a woman be intimate friends if one or both are married?
Was Zoe’s relationship with Jerry honest?
Do Zoe and Will have a solid marriage?
What might they have done differently as a couple?
How important is religion or faith in a child’s life? An adult’s?
How does Justine’s faith change and grow over the course of the novel?
Are we, as Dostoyevsky believes, all really responsible for all and for everything?
Who helped Leah and her family most? Who let Leah or the Tylers down? What
were the motivations of each?
