Darkest Child (Phillips)

Discussion Questions 
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for The Darkest Child:

1. The place to start a discussion is with the obvious—Rozelle. What is wrong with her? Is she too horrible to be believable?

2. Why does Tangy Mae continue to love her mother after all the cruelty she and her siblings endure at her hand?

3. How would you describe Tangy Mae? What are her dreams...and to what degree does she have to compromise them to appease her mother? Would you describe Tangy Mae as wise beyond her years...or naive?

4. What effect does Tangy Mae's darker skin have on her standing in both black and white worlds? Is that prejudice different or the same today—again, within both white and black circles?

5. Describe the racial tensions and injustices as they existed in Parkersfield at the time of the story. How are the lives of the book's characters misshapen by years of oppression?

6. What are the generational differences regarding the hopes and grievances of Parkersfield's black community? How do the two generations want to confront the injustices?

7. Talk about the roles of Junior, Hambone and Miss Pearl.

8. Were you expecting the outcome of the book's final pages?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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