1. “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” This Maya Angelou quote is the theme that runs throughout Carly’s Gift and shapes the characters’ lives. Do you understand the reasoning that drove Carly not to tell David about what happened to her and that drove her to marry Ethan? Do you believe someone as young as she was at the time could be that selfless? Or do you think that such grand gestures are more likely to come from the idealism of youth?

2. Did Ethan’s more selfish but equally grand gesture of marrying Carly set up his inability to put the past behind them? Was there something more that Carly could have done to help him get over his jealousy?

3. Do you believe the old saying that you never forget your first love? If so, how much of that comes into play with the feelings Carly and David have for each other?

4. After David recognized there was no way he and Carly would ever be together, what do you think his motives were for agreeing to let Andrea come live with him? How do you think you would have reacted under the same circumstances? What could motivate you to take a child into your home whom you’d known less than a month?

5. Carly acknowledges she made a huge mistake when she married Ethan. She also recognizes that she was doing the best she could at the time. How important to the story do you think it is that she was able to do this?

6. Did you understand Ethan’s need to have Andrea stay with David? Considering he believed David to be Andrea’s father, do you think there was anything he could have done differently to convince Carly it was the right thing to do?

7. Could you see the progression and change in Carly’s decisions as the story unfolded? In particular, how she did better when she knew better? Other than time and experience, what do you think hastened this progress?