Book Club Discussion Guide

1. When the story opens, Ruthie Turner has been an outsider in her own hometown for thirteen years because of an event that happened when she was just seven years old. How has her seven-year-old perception of what happened colored her adult attitudes? Do you blame her? How could things have been different?

2. Have you ever witnessed judgmental behavior by Christians? Regardless of where you stood in the situation, how did it make you feel?

3. Why do you think Lynda Turner keeps her daughter in the dark for so long? If she’d told Ruthie the truth—at some point—how might their lives have been better?

4. Being the only child of a single parent who also suffers from depression can’t have been easy, but Ruthie develops coping mechanisms to make the best of a bad situation. How do these methods of coping help or hinder her personal growth? In what ways does Ruthie seem mature for her age?

5. Early conflict in the story is based on assumptions and misunderstandings—and all of the characters seem to be affected. What are Ruthie’s assumptions—about Dodd, about JohnScott? What are Dodd’s assumptions—about his congregation, about Ruthie?

6. Ruthie and her mother are quite bitter toward the church. Do you think their attitudes are justified? What emotions do you feel toward those two characters?

7. When Dodd Cunningham first moves to Trapp, he doesn’t recognize the judgmental attitudes among his congregants or the corruption in the leadership. How does his innocence/naiveté help or hurt the situation? What do you think he learned from the situation?

8. When Clyde Felton visits the small congregation, the members react in fear and defensiveness. Why would Christians behave in such a way? When might such a reaction be warranted?

9. Consider the character Emily Sanders. She is described as a follower. Do you view her as such? How does she appear weak? In what ways does her faith seem stronger than some of the other characters’?

10. What do you think of the Picketts’ behavior compared to the behavior of the Blaylocks? One family is in church three times a week and the other is not, but which family seems more Christlike? Why?

11. On several occasions, the Cunninghams exhibit Christian love to Lynda Turner. Why might she have trouble accepting their love? Describe a time you have been on either side of this scenario.

12. Toward the end of the book, Fawn Blaylock’s parents learn she is pregnant and throw her out of their home. What emotions did you feel when this happened to her? What do you think will happen to Fawn now?

13. Neil Blaylock, the villain of the story, is depicted as evil even though he is an elder in the church. This scenario demonstrates the use of irony for literary purposes. What might the author have been trying to show? How does this character make you feel? What do you hope happens to Neil by the end of the series? What do you hope happens to the other elders?

14. In the middle of the story, Ruthie wants to date Dodd, but she is afraid of what her mother will do. Do you approve of her decision to hide her relationship? When, if ever, would it be appropriate to conceal your actions for the sake of your loved ones? How did this work out for Ruthie?

15. At the end of the book, Ruthie cries out to God after she takes a shower. Have you ever experienced a vulnerable time when you needed to reach out to God in such a personal way? Have you ever been unable to do so? Explain.

16. Ruthie Turner must forgive her parents, friends, Christians, the church, and God. In what order is she able to forgive them? By the end of the book, do you feel she has completed the process?

17. The closing scene has Ruthie declaring she is ready to go back to the small-town congregation. Do you approve of her decision? What would you do in her place?

18. By the end of the story, we see a change of heart in some of the members of the congregation. What do you think the overall reaction will be when Ruthie walks into church? How would you hope to treat her yourself? How might she perceive your actions?