READERS GUIDE
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION1. Two epigraphs introduce the story: “The Brain” by Emily Dickinson and a quote from Ann-Marie MacDonald (“Memory is another word for story, and nothing is more unreliable”). How do the epigraphs set up the relationship between the reader and the narrator of the story? Should the reader trust the narrator?
2. The novel begins by introducing the perspective of our narrator Jake, an adult neurosurgeon. Why do you think the author chose to tell the story through Jake’s adult eyes? What do we learn from his stories about brain surgeries?
3. The Saturday Night Ghost Club very clearly takes place in the 1980s, with references to Betamax, The Goonies, and Carrie, as well as stylistic influences of ’80s touchstones like Stand By Me. How does this setting affect the story and the experience of reading it? Why do you think ’80s nostalgia is so popular today?
4. How is Jake’s relationship with his father different from his relationship with his uncle?
5. Why does Uncle C ask Jake to keep the Saturday Night Ghost Club a secret from his parents?
6. What is the role of Cataract City in the novel? How is it different for someone like Jake, whose whole family history is there, as opposed to the Yellowbirds?
7. In the beginning of “The Screaming Tunnel,” grown-up Jake tells the reader about an eight-year-old girl with a tumor that keeps growing (pages 57–59). The girl is unable to stay awake and creates a dreamworld called Jupita, in which she spends her last days with a robot and a druid. Before the girl dies, she paints the robot and the druid, which look exactly like her parents. Why does Jake decide to tell his readers this particular story? How does this story relate to his Uncle C?
8. Jake describes the last time he was truly scared: “I was scared—with that crystalline, childish fear of being caught and punished. That fear thrashed behind my rib cage like a bird in cupped hands, perhaps the last truly childlike instance of that emotion I’d ever feel. That fear is a kind of magic” (page 173). What does he mean by this? How else are magic and fear connected in the novel?
9. Jake is described throughout the text as squeamish around blood and death. Why do you think he decides to become a neurosurgeon?
10. How does Jake ultimately view memory and the brain? Do you agree?
11. Dove tells Jake to “Never wake the dreamers from their dream” (page 169) and later in life she sculpts a piece called Never Wake the Dreamer (page 202). Do you agree with Dove’s sentiment and Jake and his family’s decision to keep Uncle C in the dark about his past?
12. Once you know how Calvin’s backstory has shaped the events of the summer, can you identify how each meeting of the Saturday Night Ghost Club applies to his past?
13. It is clear that Jake views the summer of the Saturday Night Ghost Club as pivotal to his character. Does he revisit that summer out of regret, guilt, or something else? Why is he telling us this story?
14. Jake eventually reveals that he has recounted the events of the novel as he chooses to remember them. What does this mean? Can you think of any places he might have altered his memories? Are there any formative experiences that you have reshaped in telling stories over the years? How and why?
15. “This city is haunted by ghosts,” Calvin says (page 25). For much of the novel, it is unclear whether or not there are real paranormal presences. Were you satisfied with the resolution to this? Would you ultimately consider this book a ghost story?
16. This novel is unique in the way it shows the complex experiences of adults and children side by side. How do the children and adults in this novel process emotions and experiences differently?
17. The novel ends with Uncle C introducing Jake’s son to the ghost and the occult as he once did for Jake. How does that scene make you feel?
