Since we were unable to find book club questions we created our own. Feel free to use them:
1. Is there anything that you believe in as strongly as Carmen’s belief in the resistance? In what area of your life do you resist the status quo? (Liz)
2. How do you know when it is time to admit defeat, either personally or as an organization? (Liz)
3. Do you think it was right for Carmen’s mother to have chosen to take her and Ale with her on their revolutionary journey? Would it have been better for her to have shipped the girls off to a family of strangers in Cuba where they would have been safe but abandoned? (Pam)
4. On the Canada Reads blog, Carmen Aquirre talks about being afraid of the potential risks to those still working with the resistance if her story was published. She was told by a friend, “This isn’t your story to keep – it’s your story to tell.” Do you think she made the right choice when it could affect so many other people? (Pam)
5. Throughout the book we learn of “gringos” like Bob that were revolutionaries in the resistance. Can you relate or understand what motivated their support of, and commitment to, the resistance? Do you think it was because of their generation or would it happen today? (Peggy)
6. Award winning rapper Shad represented and defended “Something Fierce” in the Canada Reads debate. He said what drew him to the book was the “refugee experience’ that is “quintessentially Canadian”. Do you agree, why or why not? (Peggy)
7. Allende’s words to the Chilean people were haunting before he took his life instead of resigning to Pinochet. If he had not committed suicide do you think he could have altered Chili’s history and aided the resistance movement? (Peggy)
8. What did you know about the Chilian revolution prior to reading this book? Did you learn anything new? Did anything you read change your opinion? (Kelly)
9. Has reading this book inspired you to do further research? (Kelly)
10. Compare ths book to others the group has read. Is it similar to any of them? Did you like it more or less than other books you’ve read? (Kelly)
