Soleil Press

French Boy / Library Book Club Discussion Questions

1. Family ties are strong in this book. In what ways are they similar to your own family’s or different?
2. Family ties have varying values. In French Boy, what values do you see as positive and which as negative? In what ways?
3. What are your reactions to Albert and Lucille living on the second floor of Albert’s parents’ home? Is this something that occurred in your own family? What is your understanding of this co-habitation?
4. Albert and Lucille promised each other that their children would graduate from high school. How does the story in French Boy support this commitment? What early boost towards education did Denis’s mother provide the family?
5. Who was the most educated person in his family when he was growing up and what influence did this have on Denis? What are the education stories in your family?
6. Albert and Lucille experienced a severe financial reversal. How do you evaluate their response? Do you see any other options they might have chosen at the time? What effects did this have on Denis? What are the financial stories in your family?
7. Religion plays an important role in this story. Do you see this as positive or negative? What are your religion stories?
8. Language is a main theme in this memoir. How was Denis helped by going to a bilingual school? Is bilingualism a positive experience for Denis? What is your experience/understanding of bilingualism or monolingualism? How do you rate bilingualism? Has reading this book affected your understanding of bilingual education?
9. Describe Denis’s perception of the roles of men and women as exemplified by his community. Does Denis identify with what he sees as the role of men? How might this role be different by class and/or ethnicity?
10. How do you understand the process of assimilation and acculturation as exemplified in French Boy? Is this process something that happened in your family? How have you seen it played out?
11. Denis’s Ledoux’s grandparents were great influences in his life. What do you perceive as their main contributions to his well-being? What is his relationship with his paternal grandparents? What are your grandparent stories?
12. In late childhood, Denis intuited that his parents were not models for the life he hoped to live. Denis searched for role models around him. Interestingly, one man who appealed to him was outside his community. Your thoughts? Did you search for a role model? What was your experience of looking for a role model?
13. Did Denis succeed in French Boy in creating a unique sense of time, place, or culture?
14. Why did Denis choose to go to the seminary? What do you think he hoped to achieve? In what way did his family support his going to the seminary?
15. Were you satisfied with the book’s ending and the presentation of Denis’s life? Did his story inspire you or challenge you in any way?
16. Did you find Denis to be a reliable (trustworthy) narrator of his own story? Why or why not?
17. Why do you think Denis wanted to tell his story? What was the main message(s) he wanted you to come away from reading French Boy?

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