How did Jonah’s beliefs play out thematically in the book? Did you have any of your own superstitions as a child? Are there any that you still cling to?

Thinking back, Jonah says, "all children are prone to voodoo thinking because they're essentially powerless and because they lack so much knowledge of how the world works…." How did Jonah’s beliefs play out thematically in the book?

Did you have any of your own superstitions as a child? Ones that may seem silly now or that you still cling to in whatever way? Did you have your own "La Florentine box" and if so, what are some of the objects you valued most dearly?

I'm superstitious....I adhere to my superstitions - why look for added potential trouble. Yeah I won't walk under ladders, more comfy this way. If my day takes a turn south so be it...can't blame the ladder.

A lot of people cling to their "voodoo thinking" out of ignorance and/or fear. I think a lot of adults continue to feel powerless all their lives and gain little insight into how the world really works. My grandmother would not make a move without consulting her astrological charts. I remember she once discovered I was dating a Leo and she was practically foaming at the mouth until we broke up. Fortunately I married a man with a compatible astrological sign and she died happy.

I had a cigar box as a child. I used it for feathers and odd stones and poems clipped from magazines that had some meaning for me.

I could see myself as a child in the character of Jonah. I guess I was pretty superstitious now that I'm thinking about it! I used to think the same way that Jonah did, if I found some little token somewhere, it was providence, and held a special meaning. I really liked this part of the book, it added a bit of a spooky mood, which I liked.

Although I did not think of my myself as superstitious as a child, I was afraid of the dark up to about first grade. I liked Jonah's box of treasures. I liked to find seashells on the beach or pretty rocks. To this day, an unusual rock shape or color will catch my eye.

I thought Jonah's superstitions defined his character.

I wasn't really superstitious except for the number thirteen and knocking on wood if I say something good is going to happen. I still knock on wood and avoid the number thirteen, even though I know better.

Jonah believed that there were evil forces in our world and he wasn't going to challenge them. I had many childhood superstitions and remember using a ouija board in a funeral parlor and thinking it was pretty otherworldly. With age comes sense.

Jonah's superstitions were a part of who he was, a part of his character. I'm not that superstitious. I do knock on wood sometimes, like mariannes above, but I think that's about it.

Jonah states " I was a boy who readily believed in magic, even if I didn't understand the source of its power or its purpose." This belief in magic is a huge theme in the book. I love how Jonah goes on to explain that he feels he born to music and enchanted by it because music, good music, in itself is magical.

Jonah's superstitions were part of him and his culture. . .having we all thrown salt over our shoulder for good luck, kept the mustard seed in your jewelry box, tried the ouija board in a darken room or heard noises in the night that scared the pee out of us.