The Wake Up

by Catherine Ryan Hyde

  Early in the story, Aiden’s life takes a drastic turn. What do you think was the final catalyst for Aiden’s “wake up”? In the aftermath, Aiden begins to lose his friends, his girlfriend, and the life he’s known. Do you think the benefits he derived from the wake up were worth the losses?

  Aiden used alcohol as a means to numb his pain and memories for many years. Milo covers his pain through expressing outward anger or rage. In what ways do both coping mechanisms help them get through as a young child, but become a detriment later?

  How do you think nature vs. nurture impacted Milo’s acting out toward animals? Was Milo predisposed to violence and cruelty, or were those actions a result of his painful upbringing?

  Both Aiden and Milo come from a background of childhood abuse, and the story parallels their dual journeys. What things did they have in common that helped them to recover?

  In Gwen’s marriage, she finally drew the line and left her husband after she learned he was sexually abusing Milo. Did she make the right decision at the right time, or should she have left sooner?

  Milo struggles with feeling that his work isn’t good enough to share with others. Can you relate to his feelings of insecurity around being good enough? Ultimately, who needs to make that decision?

  Contrast the breaking of the pottery and putting the broken pieces back together with Milo’s brokenness and how using his creativity assists him with coming back together.

  Running full circle from Aiden’s childhood through Milo’s is the bonding that occurs with the birthing of a baby foal. In what ways did this connection with animals reach deep within both of them and bring about a transformation that nothing else could?

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Photo © 2017 Laurel Renz

  Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of thirty-two published books. Her bestselling 1999 novel, Pay It Forward, adapted into a major Warner Bros. motion picture starring Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt, made the American Library Association’s Best Books for Young Adults list and was translated into more than two dozen languages for distribution in more than thirty countries. Her novels Becoming Chloe and Jumpstart the World were included on the ALA’s Rainbow List; Jumpstart the World was also a finalist for two Lambda Literary Awards and won Rainbow Awards in two categories. The Language of Hoofbeats won a Rainbow Award. More than fifty of her short stories have been published in many journals, including the Antioch Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, the Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, and the Sun, and in the anthologies Santa Barbara Stories and California Shorts as well as the bestselling anthology Dog Is My Co-Pilot. Her short fiction received honorable mention in the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest, a second-place win for the Tobias Wolff Award, and nominations for Best American Short Stories, the O. Henry Award, and the Pushcart Prize. Three have also been cited in Best American Short Stories.

  Hyde is the founder and former president of the Pay It Forward Foundation. As a professional public speaker, she has addressed the National Conference on Education, twice spoken at Cornell University, met with AmeriCorps members at the White House, and shared a dais with Bill Clinton.