Reading Guide 1
- Why do you think this book is titled Cage of Stars? It's a wonderful visual image, but what might it mean?
- What real-life case does the situation in this book evoke for you? Do you believe that mental illness is a legitimate defense when a person commits a terrible crime? Is justice served if the person is released from an institution?
- Who is to blame for this crime? Could it have been prevented? Can a random act of violence ever be prevented? Do any of the survivors feel guilty? Do they bear any responsibility in the deaths?
- At one point, after reading a letter from Miko, Ronnie says "I was the only one still . . . stuck." Do you think this being "stuck" is related to Ronnie's choice of vengeance over forgiveness? How else does her quest for "justice" affect her life?
- Ronnie does not carry out her plan for revenge, but if she had, how would you rewrite the end of this story?
- Talk about Ronnie's relationship with her parents. Do you think she is closer to her father than her mother? Why?
- Ronnie says, at the beginning of chapter fourteen, that "I think every religion must have been started by a person who loved someone who died." What is your response to that? True or false?
- Looking at Ronnie's life and that of her parents…do you believe that someone can love and hate at the same time? Do you think a person can go beyond grief and tragedy, even when the loss is as great as the murder of two innocent children? If yes, what behaviors can help that happen-carrying out an act of vengeance or offering forgiveness?
- How much does the Swan family being Mormon influence this story? Would this story be radically different if the family had been Jewish, Muslim, Roman Catholic, or Friends (Quakers)? Would a family without any strong religious affiliation have responded to tragedy in the same way as the Swans?
- The names of the characters in this book are unusual. Do you think any of them have symbolic meaning? Which ones?
- Ronnie has an exceptionally close friendship with Clare. Talk about its importance in Ronnie's emotional life.
- What do you think ultimately stops Ronnie from carrying out the kidnapping of Juliet or from letting Scott Early die?
- Ronnie's landlady, Mrs. Desmond, assesses Ronnie's character at their first meeting. On what does she base her judgment? Is she right? What traits or behaviors are the truest reflection of character?
- Why does Ronnie fall in love with Miko and vice versa? Is true love a choice or an act of fate?
- The story has a happy ending, and a symbolic one. Discuss what happens in the final chapter, when it happens, and what message it conveys.
