Disaster Preparedness cover

Disaster Preparedness

by Heather Havrilesky

"In this thoughtful, funny memoir about surviving the real and imagined perils of childhood and early adulthood, Havrilesky charts how the most humiliating and painful moments in her past forced her to develop a wide range of coping strategies, some adaptive, some piteously ill suited to modern life. From early boxing lessons to the competitive grooming of cheerleading camp, from her parents' divorce to her father's sudden death, Havrilesky explores a dark path from innocence and optimism to self-protection and caution, bravely reexamining the injuries that shaped her, the lessons that sank in along the way, and the insights that eventually carried her through"--Dust jacket flap.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?