Keeping Faith
by Jodi Picoult

List Price: $13.00
Pages: 432
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0688177743
Publisher: HarperCollins

The White family has just been broken apart by divorce. Seven-year-old Faith finds a friend to see her through - a friend who may or may not be imaginary. What if a little girl with no religious background starts to have talks with God, perform miracles , and develop stigmata? As it builds toward a climactic custody battle, Keeping Faith explores a family beseiged by the media, the medical profession, and organized religion in a world where everyone has an opinion but no one knows the truth.

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1. Much is said in the story about Mariah not being a good mother. Do you think this criticism is valid? Does Faith think Mariah is a good mother? Is motherhood truly a "work in progress," as Millie describes it?

2. In the early pages of the first chapter, Mariah describes her marriage as perfect, yet moments after she and Faith discover Colin with another woman, Mariah says, "Oh God, it is happening again." Are there other indications in the story that Mariah refuses to see the truth that is right in front of her?

3. Mariah says, "You can't be a mother, can you, if your child is taken away." As you read, who did you want to win custody of Faith?

4. There are two mother-daughter sets in this book: Faith and Mariah, and Mariah and Millie. Discuss Millie. What are some of the good things Mariah learned from her? Some of the bad things? In the beginning of the story they seem to be very different people. Is this true at the end?

5. Kenzie says: "The issue in this custody hearing is where the best home is for Faith. That doesn't leave a lot of room for God." Do you agree?

6. Did you read the book as fiction or nonfiction?

7. Does the Catholic Church have the right to examine Faith, a Jewish girl?

8. If God were to appear in 1999, would He intervene, or observe?

9. Toward the end of the story, Mariah is tugged across the yard by an exuberant Faith, "following in her daughter's footsteps." Whom did you learn the most from in the story? Who is the main character of the book: Mariah? Faith? God?

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" Picoult does a spectacular job weaving in all sorts of spiritual elements.... The story makes you wonder about God. And that's a rare moment in modern fiction. "

-USA Today