Title: News of the World
Author: Paulette Jiles
Page Count: 213 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Tone: Compelling, Lyrical, Character-driven
In the aftermath of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, an elderly widower and itinerant news reader, is offered fifty dollars to bring an orphan girl, who was kidnapped and raised by Kiowa raiders, from Wichita Falls back to her family in San Antonio.
SPOILER WARNING: These book discussion questions are highly detailed and will ruin plot points if you have not read the book.
The Library is happy to share these original questions for your use. If reproducing, please credit with the following statement: 2018 Mount Prospect Public Library. All rights reserved. Used with Permission.
1. What might the experience of coming to hear a news reader be like? Did the author’s choice of having a news-reading scene be our first moments of the book help you move into the world of the story?
2. What was your initial impression of Captain Kidd? What details contributed to that impression?
3. Several commentaries offer the observation that News of the World is deceptively simple. What might this mean? Is it a compliment, or is it a neutral observation? Do you agree?
4. Which elements of a traditional Western are evident in News of the World?
5. What do we learn of Kidd’s youth? How does this inform the story? Were you glad to know more about his past?
6. From the first scene in which Johanna is introduced, we are treated to brief moments of her perceptions. How do these glimpses enhance the story? What do we learn?
7. How would you characterize Johanna’s behavior? Is it believable?
8. In what ways does Kidd try to help Johanna become ready for re-assimilation into her new life?
9. Conversely, what does Johanna teach Kidd?
10. Jiles did a great deal of research on captives. Does it show? Does her work make this a better story in any way, or would it not have been much different to either make it up or leave in the background?
11. From what we learn around the edges and from Johanna’s thoughts, would you say the Kiowa are depicted sympathetically?
12. What were some of the memorable encounters along the journey?
13. Describe the reunion between Johanna and her people. How does the Captain try to help? How is he treated?
14. After he left her with family, was the Captain right to intervene?
15. What was your reaction to the lives they created for themselves? Were you surprised? Satisfied?
16. Was John Calley a good man? How would you describe him? What were the three circumstances in which they encountered him?
17. What purpose did the talk Captain and Johanna have on her wedding day serve?
18. Several of the characters, including Britt Johnson and Captain Kidd, are based on true historical figures. Is this surprising? Does this change your perception of them at all?
19. Would you describe this as a realistic story?
20. Where in the novel does the title appear? Does it have significance beyond the literal?
21. What is the primary draw for you about this story: the setting, the bond of characters, the journey?
22. Would you describe this as a quiet novel? Why or why not?
23. What will you take away with you from this novel? What will you remember?
24. What is the significance of the line, “The bones of the Kiowa warriors did not lie in the earth but in the stories of their lives, told and retold – their bravery and daring, the death of Britt Johnson and his men, and Cicada, the little girl taken from the by the Indian Agent, Three Spotted’s little blue-eyed girl”?
25. Jiles asserts that, “using quote marks is like surrounding human speech with barbed wire.” Was the omission of quotation marks distracting or confusing?
26. Does it surprise you to learn Jiles is also a poet? Why or why not?
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“Paulette Jiles Rides the Dangerous Trails of 1870s Texas” via The Sacramento Bee
“Can a 10-year-old Girl Ever Recover from Years in Captivity?” via The Washington Post
interview with The Dallas News: “Paulette Jiles Explains the Apocalyptic Influence on Her Acclaimed Texas Frontier Novel”
National Book Award Finalist content, including author reading, interview, and judges’ citation
New York Times book review
Paulette Jiles official author website
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