1. The mother-daughter bond is at the heart of JUNEBUG.  The epigraph reads, "That which lives on reason lives against the spirit," perhaps referring to love and love's fateful actions here.  How do you translate this declaration to less extreme circumstances of love? To the strength and trial of mother-daughter relationships in general?  Is the spirit (love, faith, whatever) extra-rational in its mystery? 

2.  Tess and Junie spent twelve years visiting weekly but never speaking of why Tess was behind bars.  The classic example of "the elephant in the living room" that no one comments on figures here.  Is this such a far stretch from families with secrets, the unspoken (if not-understood)pact? Children take cues from adults.  Addiction is one example of behavior that often garners denial and silence of this sort. The cover here, with Tess and Junie, is to tell stories. 

3.  Everyone is caught between competing forces of revelation vs. concealment and action vs. inaction.  Nerves are high.  How do you characterize in-the-middle foster mom Gloria and her coping skills? How does she change or deepen as a character, as need arises? 

4.  What role do the men play?  The boyfriend Floren may be said to be blunt and jovial, easy-going and perhaps acting on faith--or blind love, lust, or what? What is his attitude toward Junie? 

5.   And there's Bob, foster dad.  He's away a lot, but in a memory scene it was Bob who kept a little trip to the Tallgrass Prairie cheery and on track. This is bookended by his taking Junie on the road toward the end. Are he and Floren both calmer and more accepting of all--or not so tuned in?  Would you like these guys "in real life"? 

6.   Do you see the landscape, the sense of place, as being essentially a force, like a character?  What happens if you take this story out of western Nebraska?  Is that possible, or is setting germane to these characters and story? 

7.   Junie describes the land quite a bit.  How do her observations illuminate her attitude toward it?  How do they give you an opening to see it in your own adult perspective, past the teenage angst? Is the land beautiful, strange, punishing, banal, colorful, or what? 

8.   McCoy cites Flannery O'Connor as an influence and great writer. O'Connor believed that the most accurate rendering of character and condition came through humor and horror, neck and neck.   How does that observation apply here? 

9.  Words are not minced regarding Junie's sexual actions. Unsettling as it may be, does this follow realistically from her personality and circumstances? She has no girlfriends.  What is the alternative?  

10.   The ending resonates with an uncertain future implied.  How does the interjection of the "lightning bug" memory, right before the end, influence your thoughts on a future for Tess and Junie?

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Junebug
CATEGORY: Fiction
PAGES: 208
TRIM: 6 x 9
ISBN: 0-9728984-1-7
PRICE: $14.95/ Trade Paperback Original