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Nothing But Life

To Think About...

1. Hate is an incredibly powerful emotion. Respond to Dills’s statement that he can’t hate Jesse, even after what he’s done. Is this realistic? Reasonable? Why?

2. Do you feel that Dills has received the support he needs to heal from the incredible tragedy that now defines his everyday  existence? Why or why not?

3. Imagine for a moment you were in Dills’s position. Would you go back to Windsor? Why or why not?

4. How well has the family responded to the tragedy, both toward Dills and Jesse as victim and perpetrator, but also in general?

5. The author has chosen to begin the book with a snippet of a poem, “26” by Rachel Eliza Griffiths. You can read the full poem at https://poets.org/poem/26.  What did you think of this decision to begin with this poem? Do you feel it added to the story?

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