Children of Anguish and Anarchy

New allies rise.
The Blood Moon nears.
Zélie faces her final enemy.
The king who hunts her heart.

When Zélie seized the royal palace that fateful night, she thought her battles had come to an end. The monarchy had finally fallen. The maji had risen again. Zélie never expected to find herself locked in a cage and trapped on a foreign ship. Now warriors with iron skulls traffic her and her people across the seas, far from their homeland.

Then everything changes when Zélie meets King Baldyr, her true captor, the ruler of the Skulls, and the man who has ravaged entire civilizations to find her. Baldyr's quest to harness Zélie's strength sends Zélie, Amari, and Tzain searching for allies in unknown lands.

But as Baldyr closes in, catastrophe charges Orïsha's shores. It will take everything Zélie has to face her final enemy and save her people before the Skulls annihilate them for good.

These book club questions are from the publisher, Henry Holt.

Book club questions for Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

In Children of Blood and Bone, Zélie and her friends travel throughout Orïsha to collect three magical items: the scroll, the bone dagger, and the sun stone. How do the main characters evolve as they collect each item? What internal and external obstacles must they overcome along the way?

Zélie is a fighter, forced to defend herself and her people from the king’s oppression. Inan is a prince, determined to prove his worthiness as a ruler. Amari is a rogue princess, rebelling against her father’s corruption. Compare these three characters. How do their goals bring them together or put them in conflict?

Zélie and Inan meet each other in the dreamscape on several occasions. Which interaction did you feel most affected each character’s journey of self-discovery?

Analyze the following passage: “You have your duty and your heart. To choose one means the other must suffer.” How is this statement reflective of each of the main characters’ journeys? What role do duty and heart play in their decisions at the conclusion of the first book?

How does the Kingdom of Orïsha compare with other fantasy worlds in YA fiction?

Discuss each of the maji clans’ powers in relation to the gods. What similarities do you see among the characters that belong to the same clan?

Describe the class structure in Children of Blood and Bone. What role does magic play in the society’s separation of power? How do the class structures within this regime compare to modern-day governments?

Throughout the novel, Zélie talks about the price the characters have to pay because of their differences. Give an example of one of these situations, what price the character had to pay, and how it affects everyone. (For example, consider the relationship between Amari and her maid Binta and the price they both had to pay for being friends.)

Parent-child relationships play a heavy role in this novel, such as Zelie and her mother or Inan and his father. How are the characters’ morals and motivations influenced by their parents and their legacies?

Why do you think the author chose the title? What is she trying to convey?

Children of Anguish and Anarchy Book Club Questions PDF

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