Book Discussion Guide by Dr. Joni Richards Bodart & Nancy Werlin
From the Book Jacket
Dear Emmy,
I have decided to write it all down for you, even though I do have my doubts. I wonder if you really need to know exactly what happened to us—me, you, Callie—at the hands of our unpredictable, vicious mother. How we lived back then, when I was fifteen and you only seven, all of full of fear. All then full of hope when we met Murdoch, the man who seemed to be showing us an easier future. What Murdoch did,and what he couldn't do. What you and I did. Part of me hopes that you'll go along happily your whole life and never want to know the details.
But I need to make sense of it. I need to try to turn the experience into something valuable for you, and for myself—not just something to be pushed away and forgotten.
Emmy, the events we lived through taught me to be sure of nothing about other people. They taught me to understand that there are people in this world who mean you harm.
And they taught me one other thing. That the survivor gets to tell the story.
Matthew
A thought-provoking exploration of self-reliance and the nature of evil, and a heart-wrenching portrait of a family in crisis, this is Nancy Werlin's most compulsively readable novel yet.
* * *
Finalist for the 2006 National Book Award
A Junior Library Guild selection
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
Starred reviews in Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and Booklist
"Perfect 10" review from Voya
About the Author
Nancy Werlin was born in Massachusetts, where she still lives. In writing for teenagers, she always strives to combine the emotional intensity of a coming-of-age story with the page-turning tension of a suspense thriller. Nancy's books have won numerous awards and accolades, including the Edgar award for best young adult mystery. Visit her web site at www.nancywerlin.com.
Book Discussion Questions
- There are many ways to survive in a dangerous situation. What are some of the ways Matthew, Callie and Emmy survive?
- Explain why Emmy prayed for Murdoch. Do you think she realized the effect that it would have on her mother? How might their lives have been different if she had just gone to bed that night?
- Matthew describes Nikki as evil. In what ways do you think she exhibited this quality?
- How did Matt and Callie’s protecting Emmy endanger her instead? Speculate on how you think Emmy thought about their mother, both before and after they were separated from her.
- Discuss the scene when Matthew and Callie saw Murdoch for the first time, and what characteristics he showed them in their brief interaction with them, and how that meeting changed their lives.
- Compare Matthew’s first view of Murdoch with the way he sees him at the end of the story. What are some of the key events that changed Matthew’s perception of Murdoch?
- Why is it that the people you love the most are able to inflict the most pain on you?
- Discuss how the Walsh children’s lives were different from and similar to the life of the POW in the movie they watched with Murdoch. In what ways were they prisoners?
- Describe how Matthew and Callie felt when no one would help them. How did those refusals affect them mentally and emotionally?
- Speculate on what might have happened if Ben, Bobbie and Murdoch had intervened sooner. Would Nikki have been able to stop them and retain control of her children, as Ben feared?
- Nikki knew her children very well, and knew exactly what buttons to push to manipulate them. Give several examples of her ability to do this.
- What were some of the reasons behind Nikki’s eccentric and dangerous behavior? What did she gain by acting that way?
- In what ways was Ben a good father? In what ways did he let his children down?
- A number of adults in the book seemed to be afraid of Nikki. What did she do to each of them to make them fear her? What about her frightened them? What about her frightened you?
- There are several turning points in the book where the children’s lives get significantly better or worse. Describe several of them and discuss what caused them and what the results were.
- Why was it so important for the children to pretend the summer with Murdoch had never happened? What might Nikki have done if they hadn’t?
- Why did Nikki take Emmy away on the day she forced Matthew and Callie to go to church without her? Who was she punishing? Why and how?
- Discuss what Murdoch’s quote means: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Give examples of each of these kinds of people. Can you find examples in the book of these kinds of people?
- Why did Aunt Bobbie and Ben suddenly decide to start protecting the children? What caused them to start acting differently?
- Why did Nikki enjoy tormenting Bobbie, both as a child and an adult? What did she gain? How did it affect her children, Bobbie, and Nikki herself?
- On page 126, Matthew describes the scene when Murdoch commits himself to helping the children. Why did he make that decision at that point? Speculate on what might have happened to him earlier in his life that caused him to come to that decision at that moment?
- Matthew says he never really learned to trust Aunt Bobbie. Why not? What prevented that bond from forming? What would have had to happen for Matthew to come to trust her completely?
- Every time Matthew realizes nothing has changed in his family, he gets more and more depressed and hopeless. Discuss how future disappointments might have changed the man he would someday become.
- Compare Matt, Murdoch, and Bobbie’s lives after Nikki got out of jail to living in enemy territory or an active war zone. How would those situations be physically and emotionally similar to what they had to endure?
- Matthew said he changed in the boatyard when he came face to face with Nikki. What caused that change, and why did he say that it was irreversible?
- Discuss Matthew’s queen bee/mosquito theory. How did the change occur? Are there “queen bees” in your life that you might be able to change to “mosquitoes”?
- How would Matthew’s life have changed if he had killed or seriously injured Nikki? How would his sisters’ lives have changed?
- Speculate on what will happen to the Walshes, Murdoch, and Aunt Bobbie in the future, in five years, in ten years? What kind of people will Matthew, Callie and Emmy grow up to be? How will their childhood experiences affect them as adults? Will Nikki come back? If she does, what effect will that have on her family and their friends?
Copyright
Copyright © 2006, by Dr. Joni Richards Bodart and Nancy Werlin. This discussion guide may be used and duplicated freely so long as the copyright information remains affixed.
