1. How believable are Barbara's reactions to the news that her parents are divorcing? Is she acting her age?

2. How can you tell that Barbara has been leading a pampered life until her parents' divorce? What are the luxuries to which she is accustomed? How much does she miss these in her new home?

3. How can you tell that Barbara has been isolated from the need to work for a living, until her parents' divorce? What are the practicalities that she begins to observe? Does she resent these practicalities or work with them as well as she can?

4. When does Barbara stop punishing her mother for her parents' divorce? What is the significance of this timing in understanding Barbara's character?

5. Does Edmonton, as shown in this novel, seem like a real place to you as a reader?

Does it seem foreign or familiar?

6. What do...