First up, quick write: Imagine the main character from your book came to visit AWS for the day. What would happen? Who would they hang out with? Which classes do you think they would like? Who would they hang out with and why?

Then onto discussion: These questions are guidelines. You do not have to answer them all, nor do you have to adhere to only these questions. Feel free to take the conversation in different directions depending on what others in your group are sharing. This is your time to talk about what excites you about this book, what you love or find agonizing, but see if you can keep your focus on the characters especially.

-Introduce your character to the group. Tell us something about who he or she is, what motivates them, what struggles or challenges they face.

-Find a moment in your book that you think really reveals who your character is. It could be something they say, something they do, a moment of internal dialogue, anything you think helped you really understand and see this person. Share that with your group. You can even read a small piece aloud. Talk about how and why that moment is important for knowing your character.

-What similarities or differences can you find between your characters? How are they alike or different in their personalities, their problems, their voices, their values?

-Are there moments in your book where the character confused or surprised you? When they acted out of character, so to speak? :) Look for any moments where the character behaved in a way that seemed to be in contradiction with what you knew or thought about the character. Why do you think they did that?

-Which character do you feel that you can connect with or relate to? How?

-If you could wave a magic wand and make something happen for your character, what would that be?