Discussion questions for Best Boy by Eli Gottlieb

1. Does Gottlieb respect Todd as a character?
2. Is Todd a reliable narrator?  The New York Times‘s reviewer felt that “Todd’s account benefits immensely from those moments when he’s least reliable.”  What do you think?
3. What do you think of the “villains”? The Washington Post‘s reviewer said that: “A couple of them engage in over-the-top crimes, John Grisham-style, whereas they’d be more effective, more real, if they were simply hapless, selfish and bitter, as people in life so often are.”  Do you agree with this assessment?
4. What did you think of Nate? Kirkus‘s reviewer refered to him as the: “somewhat demonized brother, a bully in his youth, a cheat in maturity, and barely trying, maybe only from guilt, not to bail on his sibling altogether.”
5. The Chicago Tribune‘s reviewer said that: “Best Boy is as much a story of one man’s experience living with autism as it is one about the ill-informed and insensitive way in which many of us perceive people who are considered different.”  Do you think Gottlieb wrote the book with the intent of highlighting this?  Was he effective?

For more questions, check out Reading Group Choices.

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