Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- If Mary Alice was two years older, could she have gotten a job with the Conservation Corp or would her gender have held her back? How might Mary Alice's life be different if she had been able to go to California to plant trees like Joey?
- Mary Alice doesn't seem to put up much of a fight about going to live with her grandmother even though she's clearly not excited about the idea. Why do you think that is? Do you think a fifteen-year-old girl living in say, 2010, may have reacted differently? Why or why not? (Bonus question: What's the matter with kids today?)
- Does Mary Alice fit in when she starts school in her grandmother's small town? Why or why not?
- Why does Grandma Dowdel say that Mary Alice can't stay with her at the end? Does she really want her to leave?
- Is there any foreshadowing to suggest how this book will end—with Mary Alice marrying Royce—or does it come completely out of the blue? Did you like this ending? Why or why not?
- Why is the book written in small, short stories? What effect does this have on how it feels to read it? Is there an over-arching plot, or is this book just a bunch of unrelated vignettes? What holds the stories together?
- Does Mary Alice feel like a member of the community at the end of the book? Explain.
- How does Mary Alice's immediate family factor into the story? Are they necessary characters in the narrative? Why or why not?
- Why does the story skip from Mary Alice's leaving her grandmother all the way to the end, where she marries Royce McNabb? What do you think happened in those "in-between" years? What things do you know happened? What parts are you guessing at?