Book Club Discussion Questions for Book 1

Palmetto Pioneers: The Emigrants

1. Mary Adeline Walker is the oldest child in her family. How does this affect her? What negative consequences does she experience because of it? How is she stronger because of it?

2. Had you heard about the extensive massacres in North Florida during the Second Seminole War? What did you find interesting or shocking? Were you surprised to learn about the children's role in this warfare?

3. William Andrews comes into the relationship with a pending bankruptcy. What do you think about this? Were you worried about Mary and her future? What were her father’s feelings about it? What if William had moved Mary away, seeking a better life financially?

4. At one point, Mary, her sisters, and her mother discuss the difference between how women conducted themselves in her grandmother’s time, versus their mothers, and now their own. Were you surprised by an earlier freedom in women that was not shared in later generations? Has there been a relaxation or intensification of morals in your lifetime--male or female?

5. In the story, the county had a message system to alert others to an Indian attack. How does this system compare to our current alert systems? Discuss the different modes of transportation for the messages. Discuss their strengths and weaknesses--the one they used vs. the one we use today.

6. David Walker’s wife Sarah dies in childbirth, as does an unnamed woman from Ocala. Mary was later frightened when she was pregnant. What is the primary difference between having a baby two hundred years ago and having one today? What about natural childbirth? Would you or have you experienced it?

7. People in that era, especially before they could build jails, meted punishment much differently from what we do today. What is the primary difference? Why did they do it that way? Do you agree with this type of punishment, knowing all the background?

8. The children in this story play significant roles in their family and community life. There is little time for unstructured play, let alone structured play. Do you think the children suffer from it? Should the parents pay more attention to them individually? Or can the parents do this?

9. Mary never goes to school. Why? What do you think about that? How does she cope with her lack of education? Or how do you think she will cope in later years? And what do you think about all the males being educated, but the females left behind? Why do you think they did it this way?

10. Superstitions are mentioned throughout the book. Name some of them. Speculate how they may have come about. Do we still use any of these today?