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Book Jacket

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

"A powerful, provocative debut ... Intelligent, honest, and unsentimental." - ...

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Excerpt
Reading Guide
Author Biography

Discuss All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

What do you think the future holds for Wavy? Will she finish college? What next? What kind of mother will she be?

0

Nov. 08, 2017
by amberb

Did you view Wavy as a child or an adult? How about Kellen?

19

Nov. 04, 2017
by cm28015

Do you sympathize with Amy's point of view? Did you ever do something you considered risky because you were afraid of missing out?

7

Nov. 01, 2017
by Rosieglitter

In the author's note she says she's "asking readers to suspend their everyday perceptions of morality and sympathize with flawed characters." Do you think she succeeded?

37

Nov. 01, 2017
by Rosieglitter

What do you think the author's trying to say about Wavy's life when she states that the doors to her house are always unlocked and probably don't even have a key?

6

Nov. 01, 2017
by Rosieglitter

Wavy's life is filled with rules. Do you think some of these rules hurt her? Which are which, and do you think the rules change over the course of the novel?

6

Nov. 01, 2017
by celiap

Why do you think Amy might prefer telling Wavy's story to her own?

11

Nov. 01, 2017
by celiap

Did your views change with regard to what constitutes the nature of consent and, in the author's words, "a child's right to "bodily sovereignty?"

11

Nov. 01, 2017
by celiap

Until 2006, Kansas had no law requiring a minimum age for marriage. It now sets the minimum age at 15. How does marriage change your view of what would otherwise be statutory rape?

9

Oct. 26, 2017
by amberb

The author chose to include several narrators, yet she leaves out some of the central characters. Are there voices you would have liked to have heard, or some you thought were unnecessary?

11

Oct. 24, 2017
by kdowney25

As you were reading, did you find yourself wishing that Wavy and Kellen's relationship would remain platonic? What do you think would have ultimately happened to Wavy and Kellen if the relationship had remained platonic?

16

Oct. 24, 2017
by kdowney25

Do you think Wavy's Aunt Brenda's response was appropriate?

13

Oct. 24, 2017
by kdowney25

Considering their backgrounds, how likely are Wavy and Kellen to succeed in creating a healthy relationship and a "normal" family?

23

Oct. 24, 2017
by kdowney25

Of the female role models in Wavy's life, which do you think has the most influence?

12

Oct. 20, 2017
by alisonf

Wavy seems to live by the phases "Nothing left to be afraid of" and "Nothing belongs to me." Do you think these ideas have a harmful or helpful influence on her life?

11

Oct. 20, 2017
by alisonf

What do you think you would have done in Brenda's circumstances?

11

Oct. 20, 2017
by alisonf

What do you think those who interacted with Wavy thought of her?

10

Oct. 19, 2017
by pennyp

To what degree do you sympathize with Aunt Brenda's point of view? Do you think she did the right thing? How would you have reacted in her shoes?

13

Oct. 17, 2017
by Peggy H

Wavy interacts with a number of girls and young women close to her own age. In what ways do you think they are more emotionally healthy or emotionally less healthy than Wavy?

7

Oct. 17, 2017
by Peggy H

Which narrators do you consider more reliable? Which less so? How do you decide whose opinion to trust?

8

Oct. 17, 2017
by Peggy H

Why do you think Wavy can overlook egregious acts such as those of Kellen and Liam? How do you, as a reader, feel about this paradox?

12

Oct. 15, 2017
by JulieAB

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