Jamila Minnicks's debut novel, Moonrise Over New Jessup, contains very relevant contemporary themes of family and personal history and love and ambition, as well as so much more about our country's troubling history. Indeed, there's so much to unpack. Let us help you get started with these questions to kick off contemplation and conversation.
1. Why does Alice sob when she realizes that she’s ended up in a thriving, all-Black community? What did you think of the way she is embraced into the town by the Browns, Miss Vivian, and Mr. Marvin?
2. Though Alice and her friends and family refer to New Jessup as a “town,” it was never formally incorporated as a municipality after the 1903 riot. Technically, this would make it a Black settlement. Why was it important to Raymond and the rest of the members of the New Jessup NNAS to incorporate New Jessup into its own city?
3. More often than not, the people of New Jessup say they are trying to maintain “separation” or “independence” from the other side of the woods, as opposed to saying “segregation” or “desegregation” or “integration.” How does their language reflect their mindset about New Jessup?
4. When Patience tries to enlist Alice into the NNAS, she says, "The deep voices always overrule you." When Alice rebuts that Patience has one of the deepest "woman voices" she's ever heard, Patience replies, "Woman voices." What does she mean by that? Why do you think their relationship ends the way it does? Conversely, why do Alice and Dot develop such a fast and intense sisterhood?
5. What did you take away from Alice's talk about white Jesus and redemption for all unrighteousness?
6. Alice's story starts with the moon rising and setting, stitching eternity together night by night. What does the moon symbolize throughout the story?
7. Why does Raymond consider the theft of his sister Regina's shoes the worst part of the altercation at the Montgomery bus station?
Questions courtesy of Algonquin Publishers.
Want more about Moonrise Over New Jessup? Check out our feature here. [LINK]