BKMT READING GUIDES



 

Every Shiny Thing
by Cordelia Jensen, Laurie Morrison

Published: 2019-04-09
Paperback : 368 pages
0 members reading this now
0 club reading this now
0 members have read this book
"Sierra’s narrative, in poetry, captures her spare, cautious, and constrained life. Lauren’s prose is rich and descriptive, much like her own experiences. Together, the contrasting narratives tell a touching story about friendship, loyalty, and resilience that will have lots of ...
No other editions available.
Add to Club Selections
Add to Possible Club Selections
Add to My Personal Queue
Jump to

Introduction

"Sierra’s narrative, in poetry, captures her spare, cautious, and constrained life. Lauren’s prose is rich and descriptive, much like her own experiences. Together, the contrasting narratives tell a touching story about friendship, loyalty, and resilience that will have lots of appeal."— Booklist

In this beautifully constructed middle-grade novel, told half in prose and half in verse, Lauren prides herself on being a good sister, and Sierra is used to taking care of her mom. When Lauren’s parents send her brother to a therapeutic boarding school for teens on the autism spectrum and Sierra moves to a foster home in Lauren’s wealthy neighborhood, both girls are lost until they find a deep bond with each other. But when Lauren recruits Sierra to help with a Robin Hood scheme to raise money for autistic kids who don’t have her family’s resources, Sierra has a lot to lose if the plan goes wrong.
 
Lauren must learn that having good intentions isn’t all that matters when you battle injustice, and Sierra needs to realize that sometimes the person you need to take care of is yourself. 

Editorial Review

 No editorial review at this time.

Discussion Questions

 • What is the significance of the book’s title? Can it mean different things? Can you think of any other titles that might also fit the book well?
• What are the big messages or themes of Every Shiny Thing?
• Why do you think the authors chose to use regular, prose-style narration for Lauren’s chapters and verse for Sierra’s chapters? In what ways does verse fit Sierra’s character and prose fit Lauren’s? What was it like for you as a reader to shift between these two types of storytelling?
• Because the book has two point-of-view characters, readers get to see Lauren and Sierra from each other’s perspectives. What things did you realize about Lauren from Sierra’s sections that you might not have known or appreciated if you’d only gotten Lauren’s point of view? What things did you realize about Sierra from Lauren’s sections that you might not have known or appreciated if you’d only gotten Sierra’s point of view?
• What does it mean to be a good friend? In what ways are Lauren and Sierra good friends to each other? In what ways do they let each other down?
• Lauren makes some pretty bad decisions because she is determined to do something good. Which of her actions made you most uncomfortable and why? Is it ever okay to break rules if you have good intentions and might be able to do something positive? Why or why not?
• Consider the messages about addiction in this novel. What is an addiction? Which characters struggle with different kinds of addiction? What does the novel suggest about what a person should do if they are close to someone who has an addiction?

Notes From the Author to the Bookclub

 No notes at this time.

Book Club Recommendations

Recommended to book clubs by 0 of 0 members.

Member Reviews
Overall rating:
 
There are no user reviews at this time.
Rate this book
MEMBER LOGIN
Remember me
Forgot your login/password?
BECOME A MEMBER it's free

Book Club HQ to over 90,000+ book clubs and ready to welcome yours.

SEARCH OUR READING GUIDES Search
Search
FEATURED EVENTS
PAST AUTHOR CHATS
JOIN OUR MAILING LIST

Get free weekly updates on top club picks, book giveaways, author events and more
Please wait...