Bookgroup & Teacher's Guide

Book Group Discussion Questions for "Sacred Trust"

1. Most novels these days have only one or two protagonists. Did you find the size of the group labeling themselves “The Trust” confusing or did you enjoy the diverse group?

2. How did you feel about the literary device of having others including the “Gazetteers” and business writer James Kitchen offering their views to provide a more academic perspective on the challenges.

2. What did you like most and least about this book?

3. How does civil disobedience differ from protest? What historic incidents of Civil Disobedience can you name? In an age of terrorism has civil disobedience become a terrorist act?

4. Electricity is carried on lines that may be either Direct Current and Alternating Current. How do these two vary? Does the use of one or the other have an impact on how we generate and distribute power from the grid?

5. Sasha Brandt is from the Iroquois Nation. The Iroquois nation has a very interesting “creation myth” regarding its formation. How is it similar to Christian ideology? Why is it referred to as a “confederacy”? What role is it posited to have played in the beginnings of our own constitution?

6. Are energy and power the same thing? If not, how are they different?

7. Share a favorite quote from the book. Why did this quote stand out?

8. Would you read another book by this author? Why or why not?

9. What feelings did this book evoke for you?

10. What did you think of the book’s length? If it’s too long, what would you cut? If too short, what would you add?

11. If you got the chance to ask the author of this book one question, what would it be?

12. Which character in the book would you most like to meet?

13. Which places in the book would you most like to visit?

14. What do you think of the book’s title? How does it relate to the book’s contents? What other title might you choose?

15. What do you think of the book’s cover? How well does it convey what the book is about? If the book has been published with different covers, which one do you like best?

16. What do you think the author’s purpose was in writing this book? What ideas was he or she trying to get across?

17. How original and unique was this book?

18. If you could hear this same story from another person’s point of view, who would you choose?

19. What artist would you choose to illustrate this book? What kinds of illustrations would you include?

20. Did this book seem realistic?

21. How well do you think the author built the world in the book?

22. Did the characters seem believable to you? Did they remind you of anyone?

23. Did the book’s pace seem too fast/too slow/just right?

24. If you were to write fanfic about this book, what kind of story would you want to tell?

25. What did you already know about this book’s subject before you read this book?

26. What new things did you learn?

27. What questions do you still have?

28. What else have you read on this topic, and would you recommend these books to others?

29. What do you think about the author’s research? Was it easy to see where the author got his or her information? Were the sources credible?

30. In the history of the US Civil Disobedience has played a significant role in shaping the strategies employed to bring about change. However, Civil Disobedience is illegal. In Sacred Trust the leaders of the Granite Skyway project brand the members of The Trust as “Eco-Terrorists”. Do you think they were eco-terrorists? Why or why not?

31. If you were making a movie of this book, who would you cast?