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Discussion Questions

1. What happens in your family when a loved one passes away? How is it similar or

different from other cultural practices around death and grieving that you know about?

2. Why do you think the book is told in different timelines, ‘then’ and ‘now’?

3. Compare and contrast the friendship that Marisol had with Tes & Yvonne and the new

friendships she makes with Elizabeth. Do you think Marisol is acting like a good friend at

any point in the story? Why or why not?

4. Do you think that Marisol is a reliable narrator?

5. How is the way that Marisol reacts to her mother’s death different or the same from her

brother Bernie’s reaction?

6. The book is set in Albuquerque, NM. Why does Joel Duran say that he and Marisol

‘share a colonizer’? Do you think this book could have been set anywhere? Why or why

not? How would it be different if it took place somewhere else?

7. Why do you think Marisol was drawing her memories

over and over? Why did she bring up the concept of

perspective in art in the Epilogue?

8. How is Mrs. Parker the same or different as a parent from

Marisol’s mom? From Marisol’s dad?

9. What is mutual aid? What role does the mutual aid group

play in Marisol’s life and in her relationship with her mother?

10. At the end of the book, Marisol says, “I’ve stopped asking

the page what I could have done. It wasn’t the right

question.” What do you think the right question is?

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