Reading Guide

Below are questions for reading groups.

“Heart Crossings” in The Journey Home – Questions for Discussion
1. What responsibilities do people with psychic abilities like Amanda have toward others? Do they have a right to request money for telling what they perceive? Why or why not?
2. Brian feels he has sometimes lied to his men’s families about their deaths. When is it permissible to lie to someone about a death, if ever? How do you think war changes a man’s ideas about death?
3. Do you believe in communications from the other side? If so, why do you think such “information” is often vague, riddle like, or even misleading?

Trespassing Time, Ghost Stories from the Prairie – Questions for Discussion
1. Do you believe that ghosts, as a manifestation of the dead, truly exist? If not, why? If so, why?
2. Do you know someone who has seen a ghost and shared his or her story with you? How did you feel about their story? Have you ever experienced a ghost? If so, tell about it.
3. Why do you think people like to read ghost stories? Why do you read ghost stories?
4. Which of the book’s sixteen stories scared you most and why? Which of the stories touched your heart and will stay with you?
5. Which of the stories changed your idea of what a ghost is and in what way?

Silk and Secrets – Questions for Discussion

1. What does Alyssa’s (a disgraced American heiress) coming to stay with her distant English relatives tell you about a young woman’s options in the late nineteenth century?
2. How do you think Harris’s long stay in India changed and matured him? What did he bring home with him besides Tavi?
3. What sort of responsibility do you think the tin mine owners have toward the miners? Why do the owners have difficulty understanding their responsibility? How much of it is about money? How much about social class?
4. How does a nineteenth century woman’s limited options play into Gwendolyn’s behavior?
5. How do you think the death (murder) of her father affected Meggie? What challenges do children face whose parent committed murder?