Watching Samantha and her new husband doing more gazing than dancing in the middle of the floor, he quickly made his decision. He would tell them later, tonight he wanted to dance with his girlfriend.
Acknowledgements
This is for my previous readers. Thank you. Without your feedback on Amazon and Goodreads I wouldn’t have been able to put together a better – and final – edition. That’s the beauty of self-publishing – things can be corrected and made better. Thank you for your patience while I corrected a story that I thought was already finished before.
Thank you to the new readers for deciding to give my story a try. I can’t do any of this without my readers. I hope you all enjoy entering a new world.
And thank you to my friends who have been there throughout this entire process of edits and revisions, additions and subtractions. I know I’ve driven you all crazy with my, “Wait, there’s a new edition to read. Don’t read that one!” Thank you for your patience.
Reader’s Discussion Guide
Why are appearances so important? What does it mean to each of the characters? For some of them appearances have a higher value than it does for other characters; What does this tell us about their values? Which is more important: appearances for the sake of others or for yourself (being happy)?
How the different characters are viewed based on how they treat other? How are they viewed based on how they act and what they do?
Many of Aimee’s actions are later viewed as childish by her peers. Is it possible that Aimee hasn’t matured at the same rate of her classmates? Could some of those maturity level differences be because of her family or because of the loss of control she feels?
Delilah and David both handle loss in their own ways. How does David handle the loss of his father? How does Delilah handle her mother leaving? Is she really as indifferent as she appears?
Sex is only mentioned in passing. Many of the characters do not talk about it and it can be assumed that they do not have sex. David and Will have reputations based on them having sex, even though it’s implied that David was waiting for the right person and it was hinted that Will had only been with Aimee. Aimee uses her sexuality to get what she wants. What does this imply about sex in high school? Is it always the case that “everybody’s doing it” just because it is talked about? Are contraceptives fail-proof?
Book References in The Bookworm Next Door
The Required Readings
Beowulf
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Scarlett Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Crucible – Arthur Miller
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
The Just Because Readings
Emma – Jane Austen
Mansfield Park – Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Sarah Dessen
The Mayor of Casterbridge – Thomas Hardy
Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
The House of the Seven Gables – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Twelfth Night – William Shakespeare
The Books That Were Referenced
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
The Hunger Games – Susanne Collins
The Nancy Drew Mysteries – Carolyn Keene
The Babysitter’s Club Series – Ann Martin
Twilight – Stephanie Meyer
The Pretty Committee
Movie References
The Little Shop on the Corner
Pride and Prejudice – 1995
Pride and Prejudice – 2005
Sleeping Beauty
You’ve Got Mail - 1998
The Bookworm Next Door: The Expanded and Revised Edition Page 29
