| 1. | The characters in this book have some pretty interesting talents . . . if you could choose one talent or superpower to have, what would it be? |
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| 2. | What's the biggest thing you've ever broken? |
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| 3. | "I don't just break, I thought. I destroy." What's the difference? Have you ever destroyed something? |
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| 4. | What/where are "The Hushlands?" Why are they called that? |
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| 5. | In an argument about whether or not to keep Alcatraz Roy says that "he's had a hard life" and Joan says "can you blame people for getting rid of him?" What do you think? Would you want to keep a walking disaster like Alcatraz around? |
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| 6. | The author commends the reader for reading the book saying that it is "far too interesting" for anyone ever to have recommended it to them. He goes on to say that "important" books that people recommend are almost always boring . . . can you name any such "important" books that someone recommended that you thought were boring? |
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| 7. | "If I look like a foreigner to America, people will ignore me." Do you think this is true? |
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| 8. | What did you think of the "asides" about the book being a true story but made to seem like a novel, etc. Did you find it distracting or humorous? |
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| 9. | Grandpa Smedry tells Alcatraz "This war we're fighting - it isn't about guns, or even about swords . . . it's about Information." How does controlling information give the librarians power? |
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| 10. | "Even intelligent people believe what they read and hear, assuming they're given no reason to question" it. Do you think a giant conspiracy like the one in the book would really be possible? What are some conspiracies that you believe or have heard? |
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| 11. | "Information," Grandpa Smedry said. "That's the real power in this world." What is your best source of information. Where do you go for information? How would you control people with it? |
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| 12. | Who are Alcatraz's parents and why did they decide to leave him to grow up in the Hushlands according to Grandpa Smedry? |
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