I've heard from a few groups intending to use Switch-A-Wish as a book club read. This is exciting, and very flattering. To help guide book club discussions, I've put together a list of questions. Feel free to use them, alter them, and of course, add your own. Please share your questions with me (and others) in the comments sections of this post.
If your club is local to Northeast Ohio (Pittsburgh to Cleveland, Erie to Columbus), I'd be happy to visit your group. If you're not local, I can Skype in to one of your meetings.
Thanks!
Book club discussion questions Switch-A-Wish:
1. The book focuses heavily on empathy (the ability to share and/or understand the feelings of another). Why do the characters find themselves so out of touch with each other and how does the empathy they cultivate in the book bring change to their relationship?
2. Who had the better strategy for dealing with the problems in the relationship before the wish? Was it Chris who wanted to stay married, but was looking to find fulfillment of the needs he felt his wife couldn’t fulfill? Was it Amanda who wanted to end the family and start fresh?
3. Switch-A-Wish adheres closely to traditional patterns in a marriage (wife at home with kids, husband working outside of home). Are these traditional roles important to the story, or would Switch-A-Wish have worked if Amanda worked outside the home and Chris was the primary caretaker?
4. What does the book tell us about the life-cycle of romantic relationships?
5. How did relationships with other characters (friends, family) impact Chris and Amanda’s understanding of each other?
6. Thinking about Chris and Jenna’s relationship,clearly he handled it poorly. What would you have done differently? Would you have ended it differently?
7. Thinking about Amanda and Linda’s relationship, did she handle it poorly? Would you have treated Linda differently?
8. Who is someone you would want to switch places with? What would you picture your switch looking like? What’s one thing you would be excited to do as the other person and one thing you would dread the other person learning about your life?
9. Did Chris and Amanda stand a chance at staying together without the wish and switch? What would have happened if they never switched back? When they try to switch back at the end, will the wish work again? What more would they hope to learn about each other?
If your club is local to Northeast Ohio (Pittsburgh to Cleveland, Erie to Columbus), I'd be happy to visit your group. If you're not local, I can Skype in to one of your meetings.
Thanks!
Book club discussion questions Switch-A-Wish:
1. The book focuses heavily on empathy (the ability to share and/or understand the feelings of another). Why do the characters find themselves so out of touch with each other and how does the empathy they cultivate in the book bring change to their relationship?
2. Who had the better strategy for dealing with the problems in the relationship before the wish? Was it Chris who wanted to stay married, but was looking to find fulfillment of the needs he felt his wife couldn’t fulfill? Was it Amanda who wanted to end the family and start fresh?
3. Switch-A-Wish adheres closely to traditional patterns in a marriage (wife at home with kids, husband working outside of home). Are these traditional roles important to the story, or would Switch-A-Wish have worked if Amanda worked outside the home and Chris was the primary caretaker?
4. What does the book tell us about the life-cycle of romantic relationships?
5. How did relationships with other characters (friends, family) impact Chris and Amanda’s understanding of each other?
6. Thinking about Chris and Jenna’s relationship,clearly he handled it poorly. What would you have done differently? Would you have ended it differently?
7. Thinking about Amanda and Linda’s relationship, did she handle it poorly? Would you have treated Linda differently?
8. Who is someone you would want to switch places with? What would you picture your switch looking like? What’s one thing you would be excited to do as the other person and one thing you would dread the other person learning about your life?
9. Did Chris and Amanda stand a chance at staying together without the wish and switch? What would have happened if they never switched back? When they try to switch back at the end, will the wish work again? What more would they hope to learn about each other?
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