Prologue (pg 3-11)
What historical episodes are shared in this chapter? How do you think these stories might preview what will happen in the book? Who do you think is narrating this section? What role does that voice play in the novel?
Tony Loneman (pg 15-26)
What is the Drome, and how has it impacted Tony’s life? What does Tony agree to do for Octavio and his friends? Why do you think he agrees to this? What does Tony see in the mirror at the end of the chapter? Why do you think he doesn’t dance at powwows anymore?
Dene Oxendene (pg 27-44)
What does Dene like about tagging? What’s his tag, and why do you think he chose this one? How does Dene’s uncle Lucas impact his life? Does he offer creative inspiration, or is he a burden to the family, or both? Why is Dene inspired by Getrude Stein’s proclamation about Oakland, that “there is no there there?” How does he relate her experience to that of Native people in Oakland? What kind of project is Dene proposing to the grant board? How do they react?
Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield (pg 45-61)
Why do Opal, her sister Jacquie, and her mother go to Alcatraz? What do they find there? What does Two Shoes have to say about Indians and the way they are treated? Why do you think Opal’s teddy bear talks to her in this way? What choices do Opal and Jacquie have to make at the end of the chapter? Which direction do you think each sister wants to go in, and why? Why do you think Opal gets to tell her story in the first person (“I”), while other characters are in the third person?
Edwin Black (pg 64-78)
Why does Edwin want to contact his father? How does he react when he finds him, and why do you think he responds in this way? When Edwin talks to his mother, why does he feel like “something in me reached back to remember all that I’d once hoped I’d be, and placed it next to the feeling of who I am now” (75). What were his aspirations? Why does Edwin feel “something like hope” by the end of the chapter?
Bill Davis (pg 81-87)
What does Bill think of Edwin? Do you agree with any of his take on young people? Why is Bill so threatened by the drone at the end of the chapter?
Calvin Johnson (pg 88-97)
Why is Calvin hiding out at his sister Maggie’s house? Maggie says that “being bipolar is like having an ax to grind with an ax you need to split the wood to keep you warm in a cold dark forest you might eventually realize you’ll never make your way out of” (88). What do you think she means by this description? When Charles shows up, what does he demand from Calvin, and where do they go next? Why does Octavio embrace Charles at the end of their drinking session, and why doesn’t Charles like it?
Jacquie Red Feather (pg 98-117)
At the start of the chapter, Jacquie has been ten days sober, “and ten days is the same as a year when you want to drink all the time” (99). What does this mean? What is the nature of Jacquie’s relationship with her sister Opal, now that they are both adults? What does Jacquie say when she runs into Harvey at a meeting? What does he say in response, and what offer does he make her? Why do you think that he does this?
Orvil Red Feather (pg 118-133)
Why does Orvil want to learn about being indian, and why do you think his grandmother Opal refuses to teach him? Why do the boys keep their plan to go to the powwow from their grandmother? What’s the significance of the spider legs in Orvil’s leg?
Interlude – Part 3 – (pg 134-155)
The four subsections of the interlude are titled “Powows,” “Blood,” “Last Names,” and “Apparent Death.” How do these sections cover what’s already happened? What do you think they foreshadow about the rest of the book?
Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield (pg 160-170)
What happened to Opal when she was around the same age as Orvil? Why did Opal and Jacquie end up going their separate ways? What does it mean when ti says “Opal got big to avoid shrinking” (170)?
Octavio Gomez (pg 171-186)
Why does Octavio think he feels sick? Why does Fina think he’s sick, and what does she do to make him better? What is Octavio’s problem with his uncle Sixto? How does he confront him about this?
Daniel Gonzalez (pg 187-196)
Daniel says that “Manny’s not here or there. He’s in the middle of the middle, where you can only be when you can’t be anywhere.” What does he mean about his brother? Why is Octavio so affected by Manny’s death? Do you think that Octavio is a benefit to or a harm to Daniel and his
mother? Why does Daniel’s mother cry and say she’s sorry when she finds the envelope of cash?
Blue (pg 197-207)
Why does Blue leave her home and adopted family in Oakland hills? Why does she move to Oklahoma, and why does she marry Paul?
After Paul starts hitting her, what does Blue mean when she says both that “I stayed and kept staying” and also that “I’d been gone since that first time he laid hands on me?” (199). What advice does Geraldine give Blue in the car on the way to the Greyhound bus station? Do you think Geraldine’s perspective is helpful to Blue?
Thomas Frank (pg 208-225)
How does Thomas get to “the State,” and why does he like that condition? Why is Thomas fired from his job? Do you think this was fair? The chapter for Thomas Frank is the only one written in the second person, making “you” the character as you read. Why do you think the author made this choice?
Part Four – Powwow (pg 226-290)
Why are the prizes in gift cards instead of cash? How do each of the group of thieves – Tony, Calvin, Octavio, and, Charles, and Carlos – feel about what they’re planning to do? Why do you think the group turns against each other in the end? Do you think Orvil Red Feather survives the shooting? Why don’t you think that the book reveals whether he survives or not? What does Blue figure out about Harvey and Jacquie Red Feather by the end of this section? What questions remain unanswered for her? Why end the book with Tony Loneman? Do you think his death is tragic or beautiful, or both?
( from *freelibrary.org Larissa Pahomov)