Pre-Reading
Have a discussion about cross-country road trips that took hours or days to complete. How long did the drive take? What did you do to entertain yourself while riding in the car with your family? Did you play any games? What kinds? Other discussion topics might include visiting family, grandparents, or losing a loved one or a pet.
Discussion Questions
- What reasons do Gramps and Sal’s father give Sal for going on the trip? According to Sal, what are the real reasons? Why might the real reasons have been left unspoken?
- How does Sal feel about Mrs. Cadaver? Why, do you suppose, does she feel this way?
- What does Sal notice about Phoebe’s parents that reminds her of the Pickfords, her
mother’s parents? Do you think she finds either couple very likeable?
- Sal explains that the first mysterious message means that one shouldn’t judge people until one has been in their shoes. Is this advice that Phoebe follows?
- How would the story have been different if someone else besides Sal were telling it? Would you like the story as much if it were told by a narrator from a third-person perspective?
- Talk about the ways in which Phoebe’s story is like or unlike Sal’s. Why do you think Sal told Phoebe’s story to her grandparents during their trip?
- Would you describe this book as a comic novel, a sad novel, or a little of both? Why?
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