1. Read Scoppettone's The Late Great Me, a young adult novel concerned with alcoholism. How does Geri, the teen-age narrator of the novel, resemble Anna? How does Geri's boyfriend David Townsend resemble Kirk Cunningham? Tony Nardone? Compare and contrast Geri's relationship with her family with Anna's. Which novel is the more complex in the development of character?

2. Heterosexual attraction is a central concern of Playing Murder. Two of Scoppettone's other novels, Trying Hard to Hear You and Happy Endings Are All Alike deal with homosexual and lesbian relationships among teen-agers. Read one or both novels and discuss the characters' attitudes toward their own and others' sexuality.

3. Anna tells readers that her mother writes mysteries and compares her own efforts to that of her mother's fictional detective Libby Crawford. Read a murder mystery by another author and compare the structure employed by...