1. What characteristics in young adults cause them to form gangs? To commit arsons? What prevents gang violence?

2. Describe a summer job that you took that turned out to be very different than you originally thought. How did you handle it?

3. The authors use the New York Subway system as a backdrop for the regionalism in the novel. How has the subway system changed in the last twenty years? How will it change in the next twenty years?

4. Have eating patterns changed in the last twenty years? If so, how? How does this affect health of teenagers today?

5. Describe the skills that you would need if you wanted to be an actor. What kinds of movies or plays would you like to act in? How would you develop those skills and why?

6. With the aging of the "baby boom" population, retirement...