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Book Club Reading Questions

Book Club Questions for Ghost Girl, Banana by Wiz Wharton | WellRead’s June 2023 selection

Book Club Questions for Ghost Girl, Banana by Wiz Wharton | WellRead’s June 2023 selection

WellRead’s June 2023 selection was Ghost Girl, Banana by Wiz Wharton. In the words of the author, this story “is a tribute, not a memoir; a universal story for anyone who has ever questioned where they belong or struggled to have a voice, irrespective of language.”

Use these discussion questions to engage with the book further, whether in a book club with friends, or just on your own as you digest the story. 

Reading questions for Ghost Girl, Banana by Wiz Wharton:

  • Set between the last years of the Chinese Windrush in 1966 and Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997, the book serves as a history lesson to its reader. What did you learn from reading it?
  • A review commented that Wharton “unpacks chauvinist attitudes about race and nationality from the perspectives of both the colonised and the colonisers.” Discuss how you think she does this.
  • Wharton said that it was “really important for me to show the mirrors across the generations, and how far we seem to have come, and yet how far we have to go”. What do you think she means by this?
  • In what ways do Sook-Yin and Lily's lives mirror each other? And conversely, in what ways do they differ?
  • In an interview, Wharton said: “The central dilemma for both main characters is ‘how do I belong but also stay true to myself? How do I become empowered enough to stand up to people who don't accept me or who want to put labels on me?’” Do you think the characters find the answers to these questions in the novel?

  • Did you prefer being in one timeline over the other? If so, why?
  • It was recently announced that the book has been optioned for TV. How do you think the story will transfer to the screen?
  • The title is a reference to the racial slurs Sook-Yin is called. Why do you think Wharton decided on this title? What point was she making, do you think?

Please note, these questions were written and distributed in June, 2023.