This month’s FYA Book Club selection is A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher. It’s a book full of heart, small-but-mighty characters, and delicious-sounding baked goods, so please make sure you have some bread and dippers on hand while reading!
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
What kind of “small magic” ability would you want to have? It has to be something mundane that would benefit your current everyday life.
Questions
1. How would you describe the tone of the novel? Did you enjoy it? Why or why not?
2. Did you have a favorite character or moment?
3. The author described her book as “a weird little anti-establishment book with carnivorous sourdough and an army of dead horses.” While this is a fantasy, Kingfisher was clearly pulling from some very real “hot topics” like prejudice and propaganda and poverty. Do you think it was successful as an allegory?
4. What do you think the author was trying to say with Knackered Molly’s storyline?
5. What did you think about the character of the Duchess? Did you sympathize with her feelings of inadequacy, or were you like Mona—upset that she let things to the point they did?
6. What did you think about the role of adults in the book? (It’s not often we see adults even “present” in a YA story!)
7. After defeating a siege and saving her kingdom, Mona is tired and thinks being a hero isn’t really all it’s cracked up to be. What were your thoughts on this line of thinking within the context of the story?
