Book club kit

Discussion questions

Talk it through

1. The novel opens with an eviction notice “bright as a warning flare.” How does the threat of losing Apartment 4C shape every choice Xavier makes?
2. Mama Ruth tells Xavier, “Talent don’t pay rent.” Is she discouraging him, protecting him, or both?
3. Xavier has seven hundred songs nobody has heard. Why do you think he kept writing for ten years with almost no audience?
4. David Chen asks, “What’s the song really about?” Why is that question a turning point for Xavier as an artist?
5. Northside Records offers $5,000, but the label owns the masters and approves who he works with. Would you have signed? What would you have asked a lawyer to change?
6. Pete offers a steady management job. Is the safe road a failure, or a different kind of courage?
7. In Nashville, Marcus Trent says, “Distinctive doesn’t get played. Radio-ready gets played.” Is he wrong? When have you been asked to sand down what makes you different?
8. “Do you want to be right, or do you want to be successful?” How does Xavier answer, and what does it cost him?
9. How does the novel portray caregiving, and the weight young people carry for the elders who raised them?
10. Xavier’s mother, Sarah, returns after fourteen years. How did you feel about her return, and about how Xavier responds?
11. By the end, what does “success” mean to Xavier? Has your own definition of success changed over time?
12. The author wrote the songs Xavier writes. Listen to the soundtrack together. Did hearing the music change how you read the story?

The questions contain spoilers. Best used after finishing the book.

Themes

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Meet the author

Little Moses Jones visits book clubs, libraries and schools, in person in Colorado and virtually anywhere.