Zorrie Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Ghost Girls (Radium Girls) and our BookBrowse Review of Zorrie.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Throughout the novel, fire is an important symbol. The epigraph of Chapter V reads: "Our hands touch, our bodies burst into fire" (113) and Zorrie remembers a line from a poem Noah shared with her: "My heart is the same as an upside-downflame" (157). Consider the important moments when fire plays a significant role in the lives of Zorrie, Noah, and Opal: the burning of the barn, Opal's hospitalization, Harold's death. In your opinion, what does fire symbolize to these characters? How does fire, literally and figuratively bring these characters closer together or further apart?
2. Discuss the symbolic significance of Luna powder. Zorrie and her friends celebrate the magical substance, not knowing its harmful effects; they eat it by the spoonful, and cover their bodies with its glow. When Zorrie's friends develop health complications, she wonders whether the powder affected her pregnancy. Even further, she fears that it may be to blame for all of the suffering in her life; she thinks "Had it reached back in time, taken [my] parents, and replaced them with [my] aunt?" (92). How does the powder weave itself through Zorrie's life? What does it symbolize? What does it mean that something so whimsical and beautiful can be so destructive?
3. In the hospital, Opal's parting words for Zorrie are as follows: "It's a cave all your own, Zorrie Underwood. Whether you glow in it or you don't. It's a cave behind your face. It's yours. It belongs to you" (102). Later, Zorrie is drawn to images of darkness, caverns, and depths. How do Opal's words impact Zorrie? What does Opal help her to understand? What are your impressions of this quote and how it reflects on the novel's meaning?

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