1. Discuss Berry's attitude toward religion and faith. Religion is part of her everyday life, but how does she relate to it? Do you see a lot of religious symbolism in this novel? What about Pinetta's two churches --- how do they shape the community?

2. Broadly speaking, this is a story about a young girl's growing understanding of the adult world. How does Berry relate to the adults around her? What does she learn? How does she react to her parents' fallibility?

3. Do parts of this novel remind you of your own childhood? What do you like most about Berry?

4. How does Berry react to people who diverge from what might be considered normal in a small southern town? (The hobos who pass through, for instance, and her friend Jimmy with his proclaimed love for Cadell.) Where do you think Berry's capacity for acceptance comes from?

5. How do you respond to Berry's relationship with Raymond? Does it make you angry, uncomfortable? What do you think about the way Berry handles it? Does her silence betray her age, or does it make her seem beyond her years? Or could Berry simply have done nothing else?

6. Berry's family's reaction to her daddy's disappearance isn't one of dramatic grief. Does this make sense to you? Why do you think the family's response is or isn't appropriate?

7. As a student in Mrs. Freddy's second-grade class, Berry is shocked at the chalk drawings of naked women on the schoolhouse walls. Later she maintains a quiet knowledge of her mother's affair with Pastor Lyons. How does Berry think about right and wrong?

8. As a student in Mrs. Freddy's second-grade class, Berry is shocked at the chalk drawings of naked women on the schoolhouse walls. Later she maintains a quiet knowledge of her mother's affair with Pastor Lyons. How does Berry think about right and wrong?

9. Some people maintain that writing a novel is as much about creating an atmosphere as it is about telling a story. What feeling does As Hot As It Was You Ought to Thank Me give you? How does Kincaid create the mood of this story?