Historical Fiction · Free kit
Kin
In 1950s Honeysuckle, Louisiana, Annie and Vernice — Niecy — grow up as motherless cradle friends and each other's first family. Niecy is raised toward college and a respectable marriage; Annie sets out to find the mother said to be in Memphis. Tayari Jones's Kirkus Prize winner is a Southern novel about friendship, class, loyalty, and who counts as kin when blood does not stay.
“Nobody would for one second think to call me shy if I stood next to Niecy — who has been a young lady since the day she was born.”
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Kin Icebreakers
Answer in under 30 seconds. These connect to the book’s themes without spoiling the story.
Personality Reveal
1. Are you the friend who stays in the place that made you, or the one who leaves first and writes later?
Personality Reveal
2. When someone you love wants a life that would embarrass your family, do you help them quietly or protect the household name?
Personality Reveal
3. Are you more likely to plan the respectable path, or chase the person who left until you have an answer?
Funny & Light
4. What's the nickname you were given because someone decided your real name had too many syllables?
Funny & Light
5. What's the most hometown thing you've ever done in a room that was trying very hard to be fancy?
Funny & Light
6. What's one family recipe or table habit you would defend in a court of law?
Would You Rather
7. Would you rather be deeply known by one childhood friend, or widely admired by a new circle that never met the old you?
Would You Rather
8. Would you rather have a parent who left and might still be findable, or one who is gone for good and can never disappoint you again?
Would You Rather
9. Would you rather keep every letter you ever sent a friend, or know they kept every letter you ever sent them?
Hot Take
10. Hot take: chosen family is more real than blood. Agree or disagree?
Hot Take
11. Hot take: wanting a "respectable" life is not selling out. Agree or disagree?
Hot Take
12. Finish this sentence: People stay too long in their hometowns because ______.
Personal Connection
13. Who in your life would you list as next of kin who does not share your last name?
Personal Connection
14. What's one future a parent, aunt, or grandparent wanted for you that you quietly decided was not yours?
Personal Connection
15. When did you last write a real letter — paper, not a thread — and who was it for?