One Moment

by Linda Green

always looks like the other mums have chats that she doesn’t know the words to. She doesn’t look like the other mums either. It’s not just her red hair, it’s kind of everything, all the way down to the wrong shoes (Mum

the way I see it, people get less wise as they get older. I mean, children don’t start wars or kill people or get divorced, do they?

Reading Group Guide 1) How did you respond to the story being told in the Before and After sections? 2) The bullying Finn suffered at school highlighted how hard it can be for children who are perceived as ‘different’. What did you think of the way the adults in the story responded to this? 3) What were your first impressions of Kaz and how did they change as the novel progressed? 4) Terry had a very different childhood to Finn’s, but they also have lots in common. How did the author explore the similarities and differences between them? 5) How do you feel Finn’s relationships with his mother and father were developed during the novel? 6) Did you find yourself siding with either of Finn’s parents? How do you feel the author tackled the issue of the difficulties of being a good parent? 7) Finn and Kaz have an unusual friendship. In what ways did they help each other as their friendship deepened? 8) How do you feel Hannah would have responded to what happened to Finn in the ‘After’ sections of the novel? 9) Kaz’s role as a carer to Terry has shaped her life. Do you feel it will continue to do so in the same way? 10) Has the novel changed how you feel about the way the most vulnerable people in our society are treated?