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What is your definition of family?
Do blood relatives or friends figure more prominently in it?
-
Boy- and girl-next-door romances
have both advantages and disadvantages. Where does the Bibs-Cory
romance land most heavily—on the plus or minus side?
-
Is grief enough of a reason for Ed
and Lorene to have kept Bibs from even knowing about her brother's
existence, let alone the details of how he died?
-
How do you feel about those during
the Vietnam years who chose the path of resistance that Cory followed?
Did they make a difference?
-
Do you think the four adult Whipples
were right to include Bibs so much in their family activities? Or did
it just serve to make Bibs discontent at home?
-
Who did you identify most with
during the Vietnam years within this story—Ed, Cory, or Bibs?
-
Is a shared passion, like music,
enough to overcome the conflicts Ed and Bibs faced? Did you expect
their struggles to last so long?
-
Given what you know about The
Greatest Generation, do you think Bibs and Cory had a chance of winning Ed
to their way of thinking?
-
Cory resisted the war—which put Bibs
at odds with her family. Bibs resisted treatment—which denied Cory any
chance at the future they had envisioned. How do you feel about both
decisions?
-
Did you identify more with Bibs when
she started Keeping Track or when she altered the contents of the box to be
what Cory found at the end of the story? Did you find her
change-of-heart believable? If she had not been ill, do you think she
would have made the same decision?
