Group Discussion: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock

Hi there, readers!

This is a reflection of our group discussion regarding Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick.  There will be spoilers, so you have been warned.

The first thing we talked about in group was how difficult this story was to read.  We reside in Colorado and shootings are nothing new: every  member in our group has been impacted directly by a shooting (Columbine High School, the Batman Theater Shooting, Arapahoe High School, etc).  That tends to taint how you react to a book of this nature.  Most of us were also bullied or depressed in high school, which also impacted how we read the text.

Once we got that out of the way, we were able to dive into the text.  The biggest thing we found with the book was how Herr Silverman reacted.  He saved Leonard's life and took the teen to his home for the night.  But should he have really done that?  Should Silverman have instead taken Leonard to the ER where he could be evaluated and held on a 72 hour hold?

The truth is, none of us were really sure where the line is drawn.  As a teacher (most of us are education majors), what do you do in a situation like that?  I don't think we ever fully established an answer to the question, either.  The closest we got was that you do what needs to be done and deal with the aftermath later.

We also discussed whether or not this book helps or hinders young adults.  The story has a lot of really good coping techniques that it shows the readers, such as when Herr Silverman has Leonard write letters to himself from himself in the future.  And because the book deals with such a heavy topic, it can help others feel not so alone and show them there's more than what looks like the only way out.

The overall conclusion, however, was that it's a really important read that young adults should read, but they should read it with adults available.  The idea of having adults available isn't necessarily realistic.  Mostly, though, adults (parents, teachers, friends, etc.) need to be present to listen and help their teens sort through the information.

The concluding bit we came up with is that it's a very heavy but important book, but probably shouldn't be geared towards anyone below 12th grade unless the person recommending it is sure of the readers maturity level.

~Meaghan