Discussion Questions for What Happened to Goodbye
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What’s so great about Sarah Dessen? what happened to Discussion Questions for • Describe McLean. What makes her a dynamic character? Are there elements in her life that remind you of your own What Happened to Goodbye experiences? Read them all! PUFFIN LOGO 2004 goodbye • How does constructing the model of the town help connect PUFFIN LOGO 2004 #1 New York Times Bestseller he’s used to counting on no one and answering to nobody. • As the novel opens, and Mclean and her father visit Luna Blu ver since her parents’ divorce, Auden has been unable to sleep. But all of that changes when her mother vanishes and Ruby She’s built a routine that gets her through each night, but when is sent to live with her older sister, Cora. Now Ruby’s got her Mclean to her new friends and community? In what ways the opportunity comes for her to spend her summer at the Front / Back cover Front / Back cover own room in a fabulous new house, she’s going to private school, Ebeach with her father and his new family, she jumps at the chance to and—for the first time—feeling as if she has a future. Plus, there’s break out of her rut. the adorable and sweet boy next door, Nate.Everything should be for the first time, he tells her, “I see potential here” (page 1). But life at the beach proves more challenging than Auden expects. perfect. So why is Ruby so wary? And why is Nate keeping her at In addition to trying to figure out how she fits in to her father’s new along a distance? Ruby soon comes to realize that sometimes, in order to does this project bring out the best in each of the life, she also has to navigate the girls at work with their gossip and save yourself, you’ve got to reach out to someone else. friendship and crushes. But then there’s Eli, a fellow insomniac who becomes her nocturnal tour guide. With an endless supply of long for the What can readers infer about Gus from his reaction? In what summer nights between them, almost anything can happen… “Dessen’s best since This Lullaby . it will captivate all readers.” participants? What do the others get from the experience? Ruby canride take—VOYA care of herself. H“All the Dessen trademarks are here—the swoon-worthyon novel spineboy Up all night. along “Dessen has built a well-deserved reputation...[her] many fans...expect on novel spine next door who is not what he appears to be; and the supporting nuanced, subtle writing, and they won’t be disappointed.” spine width 3/8" and wider spine width 3/8" and wider characters who force Ruby to rethink her cynical worldview.” —Booklist ways does his positive attitude complicate life for himself lock —Publishers Weekly, starred review “Rounding out her latest offering with richly depicted female friendships, Dessen offers up a summertime take of self-discovery.” Sarah Dessen is the New York Times bestselling author of • Mclean reflects, “It was like when you ripped a piece of paper —The Horn Book ten novels, which have sold more than four million copies and have received rave reviews as well as numerous awards. She and Mclean? and S lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with her husband, Jay, and their daughter, Sasha Clementine. You can visit Sarah’s Web Sarah Dessen is the New York Times best-selling f author of eight previous books, all of which have been or the site at www.sarahdessen.com or join the online Sarah key © KPO Photo Dessen community at www.sarah-land.com. into two: no matter how you tried, the seams never fit highly acclaimed. She lives with her familyon noveland two dogsspine on novel spine in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. You canspine visit Sarah width online narrower than 1/4" spine width narrower than 1/4" at www.sarahdessen.com or visit(Sabon the online BoldSarah 9pt) Fall in love with more from Sarah Dessen!(Sabon Bold 9pt) Dessen community at www.sarah-land.com. ride • Examine the novel’s cover. In what ways is the image represented © J. Marks, 2006 exactly right again. It was what you couldn’t see, those tiniest • $8.99 PB: 978-0-14-241472-9 on novel title • $8.99 PB: 978-0-14-241556-6 page on novel title page Don’t miss these other great (Sabon11.5pt, track +) (Sabon11.5pt, track +) books from Sarah Dessen! HC: 978-0-670-01194-0 • $19.99 HC: 978-0-670-01194-0 HC: 978-0-670-01294-7 • $19.99 HC: 978-0-670-01294-7 symbolic of the events of the book? of pieces that were lost in the severing, and their absence kept • $18.99 HC: 978-0-670-01088-2 speak speak Triangle next to barcodespeak Triangle next to barcode speak speak Cover photo: © Susan Findlay / Masterfile U.S.A. $8.99 CAN $10.00 Cover photo © Michael Frost U.S.A. $8.99 CAN $10.50 VISIT US AT Cover design: VISIT US AT Cover design: Linda McCarthy www.penguin.com/teens www.penguin.com/teens • After she changes her name on the first day at a new school, everything from being complete” (page 165). How does her and Theresa M. Evangelista Theresa M. Evangelista Mclean offers, “It was just so easy. Just like that, in the hurried analogy capture the current state of her relationship with moments between announcements, I wrapped up and put her parents? Why does Mclean feel so torn? PUFFINSarah LOGO 2007-PDF Dessen’s TEMPLATES stunning PUFFIN LOGO 2004 ThePUFFIN scienceLOGO 2004 of breaking up... emy always knows when to give a guy “the speech”—right after New York Times bestseller! hat’s what Macy has to look forward to while her boyfriend, Jason, Rthe initial romantic rush, but before anything gets too serious. is away at Brain Camp. Days will be spent at a boring job in the She’s had her fair share of boyfriends, and she’s learned all there is to library, evenings will be filled with vocabulary drills for the SATs, nnabel Greene is the girl who has everything. At least, that’s Front / Back cover learn from her mother, who’s currently working onFront husband / Back number cover Front / Back cover and spare time will be passed with her mother, the two of them sharing a away sixteen years of my life and was born again” (page 6). In what she portrays in her modeling shoots. But Annabel’s life five. So why is it that Remy can’t seem to dump Dexter? It can’t be Tsilent grief at the traumatic loss of Macy’s father. PUFFIN LOGO 20his0 name. It can’t be that he’s messy and disorganized. And it certainly PUFFIN LOGO 2003 is far from perfect. Her friendship with Sophieon novel ended bitterly, spine • Throughout What Happened to Goodbye, readers witness A But sometimes unexpected things can happen—things such as the ca- isn’t that he’s a musician—just like Remy’s father, a man she never and her older sister’s eating disorder is weighing down the entire family. spine width 3/8" and wider tering job at Wish, with its fun-loving, chaotic crew. Or her sister’s project knew because he left before she was born. Could it be that Remy’s Isolated and ostracized at school and at home, Annabel retreats into of renovating the neglected beach house, awakening long-buried memo- romantic rules to live by don’t apply anymore? your opinion, why does Mclean embrace the opportunity to silent acceptance. Then she meets Owen—intense, music-obsessed, ries. Things such as meeting Wes, a boy with a past, a taste for Truth- and determined to always tell the truth. And with his guidance, Annabel telling, and an amazing artistic talent, the kind of boy who could turn any the complexities of the various relationships between thelearns to just listen to herself and gains the courage to speak honestly. girl’s world upside down. As Macy ventures out of her shell, she begins to An ALA Best Book for Young Adults • A Borders Original But will she be able to tell everyone what really happened the night she wonder, Is it really better to be safe than sorry? Voices Finalist • An LA Times Book Prize Finalist and Sophie stopped being friends? H“Will keep teens up reading.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review HC: 978-0-670-01088-2 • $18.99 HC: 978-0-670-06105-1 • $18.99 reinvent herself with each move she and her father make? An ALA/YALSA Teen’s Top Tenon Pick novel spine on novel spine this lullaby on novel spine An ALA Best Book for Young Adults spine width 3/8" and wider “A winning story about coming to terms with thespine fact that width loving 3/8" and wider characters. Consider whose relationship seemed most similar spine width 5/16" and wider “Dessen gracefully balances comedy with tragedy and introduces someone requires a leap of faith, and that a soft landing is never “Dessen weaves a sometimes funny, mostly emotional, a complex heroine worth getting to know.”—Publishers Weekly guaranteed.”—SLJ How is this behavior indicative of her emotional state? and very satisfying story.”—VOYA PB: 978-0-14-241472-9 • $8.99 PB: 978-0-14-241097-4 • $8.99 Sarah Dessen is the New York Times bestselling author of Sarah Dessen is the New York Times bestselling author of Sarah Dessen is the New York Times bestselling author of ten novels, which have sold more than four million copies and ten novels, which have sold more than four million copies and to one of your own personal relationships.