Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein

1. Spectacular Things is a novel about the tangled knot between ambition, wild dreams, and sisterhood that asks What would you give up for the person you love most? What would you expect in return? What did you think about Mia's request that Cricket compromise her soccer career to donate a kidney to her sister? Would you have immediately said yes? Why or why not?
2. Liz was a very young mother who sacrificed so much for her daughters. In what ways did her sacrifices shape her daughters' futures? How did she influence Mia's and Cricket's individual ambitions and aspirations?
3. At several points in the novel, a character's individual ambition must take a backseat to her family's bigger needs. What did you think about the compromises Liz, Mia, and Cricket all made for their family over the course of the book? Have you ever had to make similar compromises for family? What did that feel like?
4. Cricket develops a long and complicated friendship with Sloane. At times they are rivals, at other times they are one another's fiercest supporters. What did you think of this friendship? In what ways was Sloane and Cricket's relationship an example of another kind of sisterhood?
5. Mia's relationship with Oliver is not without its own complications. Were you surprised by their relationship? In what ways were they perfect for one another? In what ways did falling in love also entail compromise for both of them?
6. Mia and Cricket grieve the death of their mother in different and complimentary ways. Have you ever faced a loss that was sudden the way Liz's death was? How did your grief express itself? Was your experience similar to Mia's or Cricket's?
7. Liz always told her daughters, "You're a Lowe, not a quitter." In what ways did that mantra expand—and limit—each sister's sense of self? What role does soccer play in the novel? It means something different to Liz, Mia, and Cricket—what does it represent for each of them?
8. By the end of the book, the Lowe sisters' love of soccer has been passed down to Betty. Did you think this was inevitable? What do you think it means to see this in a new generation?
9. Cricket always believed that "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." How did her understanding of that quotation change over time? What did she come to learn was the true gift?

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