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Book Club Kits: Black Water Sister

Alamance County Public Libraries offer Book Club Kits for check out to area book clubs. Each kit contains 10 copies of a book and a reading guide.

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ZEN CHO

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Book Summary

“Ghosts. Gods. Gangsters. Black Water Sister has it all…a wildly entertaining coming-of-age story for the twentysomething set, with a protagonist who is almost painfully relatable at times.”—Vulture

“A twisty, feminist, and enthralling page-turner.”—BuzzFeed

“A sharp and bittersweet story of past and future, ghosts and gods and family.”—Naomi Novik, New York Times bestselling author of A Deadly Education

A reluctant medium discovers the ties that bind can unleash a dangerous power in this compelling Malaysian-set contemporary fantasy.

  When Jessamyn Teoh starts hearing a voice in her head, she chalks it up to stress. Closeted, broke and jobless, she’s moving back to Malaysia with her parents – a country she last saw when she was a toddler.

She soon learns the new voice isn’t even hers, it’s the ghost of her estranged grandmother. In life, Ah Ma was a spirit medium, avatar of a mysterious deity called the Black Water Sister. Now she’s determined to settle a score against a business magnate who has offended the god—and she’s decided Jess is going to help her do it, whether Jess wants to or not.

Drawn into a world of gods, ghosts, and family secrets, Jess finds that making deals with capricious spirits is a dangerous business, but dealing with her grandmother is just as complicated. Especially when Ah Ma tries to spy on her personal life, threatens to spill her secrets to her family and uses her body to commit felonies.  As Jess fights for retribution for Ah Ma, she’ll also need to regain control of her body and destiny – or the Black Water Sister may finish her off for good.

Discussion Questions

  1. What main ideas or themes does the author explore?

  1. If you were making a movie of this book, who would you cast?

  1. What feelings did this book evoke for you?

  1. Which character in the book would you most like to meet? And the least?

  1. Which scene stuck with you the most?

  1. How did your opinion of the book and its characters change as you read it?

  1. Were there times you disagreed with a character’s actions?

  1. Did the ending answer all your questions? Did you think it was believable or not?

  1. What did you think of the portrayal of Malaysian culture and setting? Were you able to visualize the setting and understand the cultural references?

  1. Did this book give you a better appreciation for Malaysian and/or Asian issues and heritage?