This month’s FYA Book Club selection is How to Say Goodbye In Robot by Natalie Standiford. Check out the discussion questions below! (Slight spoilers ahead.)
P.S. If you’ve already read the book, feel free to add any other discussion questions of your own in the comments!
Icebreaker
Jonah and Bea have an unconventional friendship. Did you ever have a relationship as a teen that didn’t fit the common mold?
Questions
1. Which Night Light is your favorite?
2. If you were Beatrice, how would you have reacted to Jonah? Did you connect with him? Sympathize with him? Want to punch him in the face? Would you have stuck with him, like Bea did?
3. Jonah or Walt?
4. Let’s discuss the ways that Natalie Standiford portrays relationships in this book: Bea and her mom, Bea’s parents, Bea and Jonah, Jonah and Mr. Tate. None of these relationships are typical, but are they all broken? Are they authentic? Did any of them in particular strike a chord with you? And did you see any parallels between Bea’s parents’ marriage and her relationship with Jonah?
5. At the beginning of the book, Jonah is already ready to leave his father behind. For Bea, it takes a bit longer. On page 181, she thinks this about her mother: “Now she just felt like an obstacle I had to maneuver around, someone in my way.” How much would you attribute that to her mother’s craziness, and how much would you attribute to Bea growing up?
6. What did you think about Anne? Was she a silly, shallow girl or a well-meaning friend that Bea overlooked?
