Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel (18 page)

Acknowledgments

I want to thank Chris Lynch for being the best mentor in the whole wide world, Elise Howard for making this book so much better than it originally was, Pat Lowery Collins for dealing with the rough rough drafts of this story, Eileen Lawrence (Mom), Emily Parliman, Judy Gitenstein for all her help and patience, Leigh Feldman, Jean Garnett, Kelly Bowen, Open Book Publicity, Debra Linn, Craig Popelars, Elisabeth Scharlatt and everyone at Algonquin Young Readers. Amy Hanson Downing, Robin Cruise, my family for loving me, all the indie booksellers and librarians that have supported me, authors who have been so wonderful to me: Amy Herrick, Hollis Seamon, Sarah Dessen, Malinda Lo, Jacqueline Woodson, E. M. Kokie, David Levithan, journalists and reviewers who have been so gracious, my friends, every teacher I’ve ever had, and you, dear reader. I hope this book finds you and lets you know that you have a story to tell, too. Much love.

TELL ME AGAIN

HOW A CRUSH

SHOULD

FEEL

SARA FARIZAN

Questions for Discussion

1. In
chapter 1
, Mrs. Taylor asks her class if it’s possible for a character in
The Color Purple
to be both married and attracted to another woman. Why did Sara Farizan choose to begin
Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel
with a discussion of Alice Walker’s novel? How would you answer Mrs. Taylor’s question?

2. Based on Tomas’s comments, when Leila first joins the tech crew, she assumes all of the girls will be lesbians. In fact, none of them is. Have you ever had a similar experience with stereotypes? How did you handle the situation?

3. On
page 138
, Tayrn says, “Look, Leila, high school sucks for everybody.” Is this true? Do certain people have an easier time in high school than others? If so, why?

4. Throughout most of the novel, Tomas seems comfortable with his sexuality. But on
pages 148–49
, we learn how difficult it was for him to come out and how hard he finds high school. Tomas suspects that Leila will have an easier time coming out than he did. Why does Tomas believe it’s easier to come out as a lesbian than as a gay man? Do you agree with him?

5. When did you first notice that Saskia might not be who Leila thought she was?

6.
Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel
is set in an affluent northeastern prep school. How might Leila’s coming out have been different if the novel were set at a public school, or in another part of the country or world? Would the story have been different if Leila had been another ethnicity?

7.
In Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel,
Sara Farizan layers her love triangles. For example, Tess has a crush on Greg, but Greg has a crush on Leila; Leila has a crush on Saskia, who may or may not reciprocate. Did you expect the characters to couple up in the way that they did? Why or why not?

8. Why did Leila’s mom want to be the one to tell Leila’s dad that Leila is a lesbian?

9. When Saskia tells the school that Leila is a lesbian, the only person who seems upset by the news is Greg. Why do you think that Greg has the reaction that he does? Why is Tess’s reaction so different from Greg’s?

10. By the end of the novel we learn that most students at Armstead are keeping secrets about themselves. In most cases, when the secret is revealed, it doesn’t have the negative impact that the secret-keeper anticipated. Is there ever a case when it’s best to keep something about your identity a secret? How do you know when it’s a good time to reveal something unexpected about yourself?

Mark Karlsberg

SARA FARIZAN
is the author of
If You Could Be Mine.
The daughter of Iranian immigrants, Sara lives in San Francisco, California, but Boston, Massachusetts, will always be home. She is an MFA graduate of Lesley University and holds a BA in film and media studies from American University.
Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel
is her second novel.