Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for One Step Forward by Marcie Flinchum Atkins

1. How does the title One Step Forward reflect the theme of the book?
2. What choices did the poet make with poetic form? How do those choices impact the story?
3. How does the author use white space? How did that impact you as a reader?
4. The slips of paper that Sophie sneaks to Matilda are her way of communicating with her sister and sharing wisdom. If you could write a bit of wisdom to a friend or family member, what would it say?
5. Throughout the book, Atkins uses physical objects as touchstones. Some touchstones include: Hershey's Kisses, additions to her collections, and the notes from Sophie. How do these touchstones impact the story and how do they affect you as a reader?
6. There are many ways to tell a story. Atkins chose to use historical fiction and verse. Shaina Taub told the suffrage story through her Broadway musical "Suffs." Susan Campbell Bartoletti wrote a nonfiction picture book, How Women Won the Vote, and Winifred Conkling wrote a nonfiction book for older readers called Votes for Women. If you told a local-to-you story, through what medium would you tell the it?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of HarperCollins Publishers. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.