Christine Brodien-Jones

Although THE OWL KEEPER is a fantasy, it explores issues we face in our everyday lives. Choose a theme from the book and discuss how it relates to you personally. Examples: friendship, courage, self-esteem, family relationships, trust and betrayal, censorship, the morality of genetic experiments, oppressive governments, dealing with loss.

• What monsters have you encountered in literature? If you were a mad scientist in a secret laboratory, what sort of monster or genetically-altered creature would you create? Write a story and put your hero/heroine in a situation with this monster. Do they tame it, destroy it, or find a way to escape?

• After a rocky beginning, Max and Rose become close friends, sharing secrets, disagreements and terrifying adventures. Write a character sketch about a friend, including descriptions of your adventures and misadventures together, and details to illustrate why your relationship is unique.

• “PERFECT WEATHER FOR A PERFECT WORLD. CITIZENS’ DOME CONSTRUCTION SCHEME.” Max dreads the time when the citizens of his town, including his parents, must leave and move into the domes. What would it be like to live in a controlled environment? Would a world without darkness be a perfect world, as the High Echelon’s billboards claim? Write a short story about a character living inside one of these domes.

• “Rose was his one true friend: she would risk everything to save him. And he would risk everything to save her.” Do you think Max’s opinion of Rose changes over the course of the novel? If so, how? Would you risk your life, as Max does, to save the life of your best friend?