1. Colleen married a Hispanic man in 1969, when some states still had laws that prohibited or strongly discouraged marriages between individuals of different skin tones or races. Those laws have changed. Why? How?
2. Although the book does not clearly state this, Colleen grew up in a sundown town. What does that term refer to? Do such towns exist today?
3. The characters Jan, Rita, and Beau reflect the views of segregationists. Do you know people with those opinions today? How can we change those views?
4. Colleen was accused of helping black family members register to vote, like church ladies from the North did. What do you know about that effort? Did she have reason to be afraid?
5. Evelyn was proud to be a third-generation, college-educated teacher following her mother, aunts, and grandmother. Did you know about the legacy of black college education before you read this book, or did it surprise you?
6. What other middle-class professions for blacks are represented in the novel? Why do you think the author included them?
7. Why do you think Mr. Peterson assigned Evelyn to mentor Colleen? What did they have in common? What did they learn from each other?
8. During the school year, Colleen was frequently the only white person in a group. Think of a situation in which you were the “only” one in a group. Were you comfortable? Why? Why not?
9. When the segregated schools were combined, the black high school students lost their positions on student council, the football team, and the cheerleading squad. The novel focuses on the seniors who lost other school social opportunities and risked losing the privilege to graduate. Did you expect the student demonstration to remain nonviolent? Why did it?
10. Frank feared that he and his family might be hurt, even killed, as retribution for his revealing his suspicions about his father’s death. Did you think his effort to protect his family was courageous, or did he take the easy way out by giving Mr. Peterson the evidence he’d hidden?
11. The midyear overnight closure of the black school and its mandated integration into the white school was enforced through the illegal continued use of a Freedom of Choice plan. Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court decision issued in 1954, wasn’t fully successful in enforcing school desegregation. Five years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it took the threat of financial loss to integrate the schools. Are more laws necessary to enforce integration and civil rights today?