Are you part of a book club or looking to start one? Far Creek Road by Lesley Krueger makes a great book club pick!
Tink Parker is an adventurous, nosy, and very funny nine-year-old living a happy suburban life. But it’s 1962. The Cold War is slowly building toward the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world is in danger of ending, and Tink’s innocence comes under threat as she stumbles on neighborhood secrets and affairs.
Book Club Questions
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Far Creek Road begins as Tink Parker makes friends with eight-year-old Norman, who has just moved into her suburban neighborhood. What do you think of Tink and Norman? Do they bring back memories of kids you knew when you were young? Are they children of their time period or are they universal?
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Tink is an observant child, but she doesn’t always understand what she sees. How does the author use Tink’s observations to show readers what’s going on under the surface in Grouse Valley? Which instances particularly struck you?
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Many of the parents living in Grouse Valley are members of the Greatest Generation — people who lived through the Depression and the Second World War. How does the trauma he suffered when he was younger affect Tink’s father, Hall Porter?
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How does it affect Jim Manners, the antagonist in the story, who was a prisoner of war? To what extent do you think his experiences in the war dictate the choices he makes in the novel? What about his relationship with his father?
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Trauma is said to trickle down through the generations. How do you think her father’s trauma during the Second World War has affected Tink? Have her parents managed to shelter her? What role does her mother, Bunny, play in keeping the ship steady?
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What effect do his leftist parents’ choices have on Norman? They ask him to keep secrets. How do you think this will affect Norman as he grows up? Tink looks for him when she’s older. What sort of person do you think she would find?
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How have the roles of women changed since the suburban 1960s? Do you think the changes allowed Tink to follow her dreams, or is she the sort of person who would have done what she wanted to do anyway, the way her brother says?
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The confrontation between the Western world and the Soviet Union plays a crucial role in this novel. Do you see any parallels in today’s political scene?