1. Annie seems to have a great deal of trouble figuring out why Uncle Marco would want her to stage a very deep slowdown for Crutchley Development.

Why would she be so slow to understand what Uncle Marco plans?

2. Are you satisfied with the ending of The Boxes?

3. Why does Annie do as the creatures tell her to do? What does it reveal about her personality?

4. How does Annie grow during the novel? How is she significantly different at the end from the beginning of The Boxes?

5. What are the similarities between Annie's relationship with Linda and Jeff and her relationship with the creatures and the Lord?

6. Annie finds the sacrifice of lower-class creatures to be repellent, yet she goes along with it twice. Has she forsaken her moral values for the sake of expediency?

7. Is Uncle Marco actually living more by sometimes slowing down...