Billy Goat Hill
Page 35
By the end of the book, how did you feel toward the Sergeant? Were you able to see him with sympathy as Wade did, as a good man who made a terrible decision? Were you able to forgive the Sergeant as Wade did? If not, why not? What about Miss Cherry’s role in the cover-up? How do you feel about her? Perhaps you have also made bad choices in your life. How has forgiveness made a difference?
Do you see the characters of Rodney and Esther as heroes in Billy Goat Hill?. How so? If you have been blessed with a Rodney or an Esther in your life, how was your life impacted as a result? How might you be a Rodney or an Esther for someone lost or hurting?
The Lord works in mysterious ways, and so often His mystery is beautiful, magnificent, and awe inspiring. Wade had no one to teach him how to be a man, yet he ultimately became a man of God. What do you think may have been God’s purpose in designing such a mysterious path for Wade? What mysteries have you encountered on your path? What do you think might be God’s plan for your future?
Billy Goat Hill, Eagle Rock, Three Ponds, Cavendish Caverns…what sort of places did you escape to when you were a kid? How did they affect you?
Often we fail to realize how perceptive children are. The old saying, “Kids are resilient and have a way of bouncing back,” may have some truth to it. On the other hand, some scars can last a lifetime. What childhood scars do you bear? What has helped you to heal or to overcome those scars?
Did you have a loving pet when you were a child? How did you relate to the relationship between the boys and Mac? How were you affected when you learned of Mac’s heroic death?
Have you ever known someone like Lucinda, a person unable to cope with a tragic loss? Were you able to identify with her? How so?
What do you think happened to Earl? How important might it be to Wade and Luke if Earl reappeared one day? Has anything similar ever happened in your life or to someone you know?
What did you think of Wade’s imaginary friendship with baseball legend Duke Snider? Could you relate? What relationships resided in your imagination as a child?
You could say the beginning of Wade’s lifelong dilemma goes all the way back to an innocent schoolyard dare. Were you ever part of a dare or challenge that got out of hand?
Alcoholism, divorce, child abandonment—such patterns of abuse in families are often perpetuated from generation to generation. Billy Goat Hill presents a kind of “how to” message of hope: that by embracing forgiveness, which is the promise of Christ, cycles of abuse can be broken. Has forgiveness played a role in changing your life? How so?
Sadly, so many marriages today do not prevail. Though faced with some very dark times, Melissa never gave up on Wade, and their marriage was sustained. Has faith played a role in overcoming difficulties in your marriage? How so?
The irrepressible Parker brothers return in the
exciting sequel to MARK STANLEIGH MORRIS’S
endearing debut novel, Billy Goat Hill!
Now in their midforties, Wade and Luke sell their thriving travel agency and plunge in to helping lost and hurting teens in Northeastern Los Angeles. Together with Jose Reyes, a former gang member turned youth pastor, the brothers establish the Rodney L. Bernanos Center near the site of their childhood home. A colorful cast of street-hardened characters conspire to test the brothers’ faith as they walk the walk and talk the talk of forgiveness in this now spiritually dark quadrant of the city. Progress is hard-earned, but the youth center thrives… enraging a formidable enemy and igniting a battle for the very soul of the community.
COMING FALL 2006!
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
BILLY GOAT HILL
Published by Multnomah Publishers, Inc.
Published in association with Van Diest Literary Agency
© 2004 by Mark Stanleigh Morris
Multnomah is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers, Inc., and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The colophon is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission.
For information:
MULTNOMAH PUBLISHERS, INC.
POST OFFICE BOX 1720
SISTERS, OREGON 97759
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stanleigh, Mark.
Billy Goat Hill: a novel / Mark Stanleigh Morris,
p. cm.
“Published in association with Van Diest Literary Agency”—T.p. verso.
eISBN: 978-0-307-56341-5
1. Boys—Fiction. 2. Brothers—Fiction. 3. Forgiveness—Fiction.
4. Los Angeles (Calif)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3569.T33196B55 2005
813′.54—dc22
2004028494
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