Discussion

Who would the book appeal to?

This book is not for someone who is just beginning to read, because it uses quite a bit of big vocabulary.. so basically anyone over 16 could be drawn to it.

The book deals with some southern aspects too, so people from the south might be able to bring more of a connection with it and enjoy it more than the next person.

The book also is telling a story of a basically broken home. So anyone who has ever had to deal with situations like what you read in the book would like it tooo.

What about it is appealing?

I like the fact that the author sets the tone so well, when your reading it Bragg really makes you feel like you were there at the time. He is very specific with his emotions and how he felt about things.. he also is good at describing the situations of the time.

What obstacles should student readers of this book be ready for?

Challenging dialogue, Braggs' uses a lot of big and challenging words in this book. Its important to understand everything that is being said, because most of the time the most challenging words that he uses are intended to be the most powerful & moving.

What would students need to know about in-order to understand the book?

They would basically need to read the prologue of the book, i didnt at first and was lost, but after i read it i understood a lot more stuff.. this isnt supposed to be a book of him bashing on his father and telling lots of stories about him, although he does this a lot.. The main point is to show how strong and great of a person that is mother is.

You also need to understand the situation in which they are living in and where they are at. They are very poor and cannot afford what most people can... They are also in the south, so somethings that they are accustomed to there we may not understand.

What issues does the book deal with that students might be interested in discussing?

Rick Bragg had one of the worst fathers ever it seems like, and something that is interesting is all the things that Bragg explains him doing. A big thing in the book, for me, is seeing how his father messed up next. Another thing to discuss is the level of poverty that they were at, i think its enteresting to ponder how it must be or if someone could make it today in our economy if they were as poor as Bragg explains his family to of been.

Is there any "mature" content in the book? If so, what kind of content? How would you deal with such content in class?

Well there Isn't any content in the book so far that I would really concider mature to the point where if it was a movie it would be rated R. The book gets into how his father used to beat his mother pretty intently, but other than that and some language the book is prettty straight edge. And as far as discussing it in class, well i think that at this point we are all big enough, and hopefully mature enough to discuss basically anything in class.. So i would just go at it just as i would any other discussion.