Reading Zines: Graphic Novel Family Book Club for Tweens – Book of the month: December 2019
We hope you have enjoyed the great story for this month "Brave" by Svetlana Chmakova.
We share the questions that we want to discuss about it during the first part of the activity:
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- What types of activities are you involved in at school? Do you find that your closest friends are also in those activities?
- Do you feel like your friend group is exclusive or inclusive? Explain why.
- Jenny and Akilah say that any “mean and dismissive jokes” count more if Jenson's “friends” are saying them. Do you agree? Why or why not?
- Has a friend of yours ever told a “joke” about you that you didn't like? Perhaps a joke that may fall into the “mean and dismissive joke” category? How did that make you feel? Did you let your friend know how you felt?
- Did reading Brave make you think about how your friends treat you? Please explain.
- Did reading Brave make you think about what kind of friend you are? Please explain.
- Akilah and Jenny got in a big fight in the middle of the book and were mad at each other for a while, then made up. Is that a healthy friendship? Explain. What are some ways they could improve their friendship?
- What do you think of Jenny's Lizard Brain reaction? Have you ever been in a situation that made you so mad you lost the ability to think rationally?
- Jenson didn't understand why Jenny and Akilah wanted to interview him for their topic. Why do you think Jenson was surprised to be included in Jenny and Akilah's project?
- Have you ever been in a situation when you had to stand up for yourself? Was it hard? Explain. How did it make you feel after you did it?
- Have you ever been in a situation where you wish you would have stood up for yourself or someone else but didn't? What do you think stopped you from standing up at the time? Explain.
- What are some things you can do at school to make sure no one feels like Jenson does in Brave?
- In Brave, Felicity Teale gets suspended because she refuses to change her skirt that the administration thinks is too short. What do you think about your school dress code? Is it too restrictive? Is it too slow? Do you think it applies to males and females equally? What would you change about it?
- Miss Lee asks Jenson's class whether they think “society should have the right to jail or punish you for what you choose to wear.” Answer that question and please explain your answer.
- Which character in the book showed the best friendship qualities? Explain.
- Jenny, Akilah, and Felipe were videoing Yanic messing with Jenson, but Jenson and Yanic didn't know they were being recorded. Is that fair? Or does that cross a line? How would you feel if someone was recording you without you knowing?
- Can you think of someone in your school who Yanic reminds you of? Without revealing who you're thinking of, is there anything you can do to help them change?
What makes a good friend?
Ask students to list at least five qualities that make someone a good friend. Have them draw a picture that illustrates some of those qualities in action. Have students share their artwork and discuss the qualities they chose to list. This will be their sidekick in their graphic novel.
