The Literature and Language Book Club will meet from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, July 19 in room 3N-6 at the Harold Washington Library Center to discuss The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow by Rita Leganski.
Here are some of the discussion questions from the publisher’s reading guide to consider as you read:
- As a fetus in his mother's womb, Bonaventure can hear her heartbeat, blood flow and breathing. He can also hear a bluesy trumpet and the shuffling of tarot cards. What might those things signify? In what ways is Bonaventure's rarified hearing a double-edged sword?
- The fog rolling over Saint Anthony's Garden is yet another sound that comes to baby Bonaventure. Saint Anthony is popularly known as the saint of lost things. What have some of the characters lost? Bonaventure, too, was named for a saint. How does his name reflect his character and his destiny?
- What role does social/economic class play in the story? How does class adversely affect the characters, most notably, Suville, Calypso, and even Letice?
- Compare and contrast the four women in Bonaventure's life: his mother, his two grandmothers, and Trinidad? What did the boy learn about life from each of them?
