1. Miss Emily and Kevin represent two ways of dealing with materialism.

Explain their positions. What does Brieanna feel about their ways of dealing with money? Does the novel lead you to choose one way of life over another? Can both be compatible with each other?

2. Do you think there are implied assumptions made about men and women in this novel? Examine how Brieanna feels about the men and women in her life. Why does she feel the way she does? How do the positions men and women hold and their economic status influence the way Brieanna perceives them?

3. Several pre-adolescent and adolescent novels dealing with a character's search for identity also discuss religion. Some of these novels are Robert Cormier's The Chocolate Wars; Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terebitha and her Jacob Have I Loved; and Judy Blume's Are You There...