This week is our last of the YA Cafe Summer Book Club sessions and we’ll be discussing Sweethearts by Sara Zarr.  I can’t believe the summer went by so fast!  Feels like just this morning we were announcing the book club idea and now we’re on our last book.  But don’t worry, Ghenet and I have lots of fun things planned for YA Cafe in the fall so stay tuned for more adventures in teen literature.

The Book Club Discussion posts will go up this Friday on both iggi&gabi and All About Them Words.  As always, you can share your thoughts in the comments or share a link and post your response on your own blog.  Also, don’t forget to join in the conversation on twitter, using the hash tag #YAcafe.  Here are a few discussion questions to get discussion going.

1. Did you find that the cover and title represented what the story was really about?  How so or how not?
2. What did you think of the story structure with the past revealed in short chunks?  Did you find it effective?
3. How did you react when you finally found out what happened to Jennifer and Cameron in the past?  Was it surprising?  Scary?
4. Secondary characters play an important role in this book.  Which secondary character resonated most with you and why?
5. How you define yourself is a central theme in this story.  Jennifer goes through great pains to redefine herself as Jenna.  Have you ever had the experience of redefining yourself as someone new?  What was it like?
6. What did you think of the ending and how it’s not a typical love story?

Can’t wait until Friday!  In the meantime, if you haven’t read Sweethearts, get your hands on a copy and read it!