READERS GUIDE

Reader’s Guide
Making It Home by Teresa Strasser
Discussion Questions:


1. Why was the season of the Purple Pinstripes a grief group for Teresa and her father?

2. Have you ever been an obsessed superfan, whether of a team, a writer, an influencer, or a band? How did this help you feel part of a community?

3. What kind of sports parent are/were you?

4. Is Teresa’s dad redeemed for his questionable parenting by becoming a devoted grandparent?

5. Do you believe there’s a connection to our loved ones after they die? Are we connected as in the example of quantum mechanics, or what Einstein called “spooky action at a distance”?

6. Why do parents get so intensely wrapped up in their talented kids, whether they’re involved in chess, violin, tennis, swimming, or baseball?

7. Do you have a memory that seems to encapsulate your relationship with your sibling(s)? 

8. If you’ve experienced grief, what aspect of Teresa’s grief seemed familiar to you? Did any of it seem wildly different?

9. How much of Teresa’s grief is about the deaths of her brother and mother and how much about other things?

10. Teresa feels she should have died instead of her brother. Based on what you learn in the book, why do you think she feels that way?

11. Would you characterize Tammy and Nelson Strasser as “bad” parents? Why or why not?

12. In the end, Teresa gave up on getting an acknowledgment from her dad about her dysfunctional childhood. How do you feel about that?