Discussion Questions

1. Has doing a favor for a friend ever gotten you into trouble?
2. Has a misunderstanding ever caused you to take drastic measures or ended in a comic moment?
3. How would you describe Ellis? How did she describe herself? Is there a difference in the way you view her and the way she viewed herself? Why?
4. Through the course of the story, Ellis discovered that work is hard. How old were you when you came to that realization?
5. Ellis’s professor and parents thought her problems could be solved if she would just buckle down and apply herself. Ellis, however, understood that she couldn’t because she wasn’t like everyone else. In what ways are you not like “everyone else”? How have you dealt with this? And who exactly is “everyone else”?
6. This book was filled with faulty assumptions and unmet expectations. Which of them stood out to you? What has your experience with assumptions and expectations been?
7. What sort of expectations did your family have for you as you were growing up? Were you able to meet them?
8. Where do you draw a line on moral issues in the political sphere? Is it worth trying to legislate morality? Are there any alternatives?
9. Whose fault was it that Irene died? How far is it necessary to go in being your brother’s keeper?
10. Ellis repeated Emile Coué’s mantra, “Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.” What do you say to yourself? What effect are those words having on your life? On your relationships?
11. If you could help someone change their role in life, who would it be? How would you do it?