Introduction

Two sisters. Many unanswered questions. One undiscovered past. Claire Trowling is on a quest. It’s June, 2001, and she has just received news of her sister Becca’s abrupt disappearance. After finding a stack of mysterious letters bound by a rare necklace, Claire leaves her home in North Carolina and heads to England—the source of the heirloom—for answers. Soon she realizes she must piece together the shadowy remnants of a past she’s long forgotten in order to save her family’s future. Suspenseful and full of intrigue, Skizzer is a dramatic tale of a sister’s race to discover her true beginnings amidst the secrets that hold her family captive. But are some secrets better left uncovered? Join the transcontinental hunt for answers and discover the truth.

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Excerpt

Gideon, North Carolina
June 2001

The events of the summer that changed our lives might never have come together as they did if I had not stopped for fast food before reaching my aunt’s house near Raleigh. In a sense, that one simple decision affected all our lives—the way a fallen log in a river diverts water into a tributary, slowly over time. You don’t notice the difference at fi rst. Then you wake up one day and realize that where you are is not where you meant to be going, that the person you’ve become is not who you thought you’d be. And that deductive reasoning—working backward in time, over all the details and events—leads you squarely to that one moment that turned out to be the genesis of change. By the time I crossed the Virginia–North Carolina border the rain had spent itself to little more than a drizzle. The wind lashed at my windshield, and in spite of the muggy air outside I felt a chill run down my spine. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. Read the first paragraph of the book. Is there some event or time in your life that you can point to when everything started to change? What was it? How are things different months or years down the line?

2. Childhood memories are important in Claire’s search for Becca. How do your own childhood memories inform your life today? Do you find it meaningful to search your past?

3. Becca’s disappearance caused her sister and her husband a lot of anxiety and worry. Do you think it was fair for her to leave like that with no explanation? How would you have handled the situation as one of the ones left behind?

4. Have you ever taken a trip that changed your life? Where did you go? What did you do? How are you different because of it?

5. Every family has secrets. Who is the keeper of your family’s secrets? What is the most surprising thing you have discovered about your family? What other secrets do you suspect people might be keeping? Do you keep any secrets from your family?

6. Do you believe in evil spirits? Why or why not? If yes, do you fear them? Why or why not?

7. Who was your first love? Was he someone older? Someone out-of-bounds? Did he return your affections? Or did you keep your feelings to yourself?

8. Claire worries that she is past the point of finding true love. Is there a time when the possibilities for love are ended? Is there a benefit to finding a love later in life?

9. Place plays an important role in this story—North Carolina, England, the huge old house, the shack in the woods. How does the sense of place change the way you read this story? Would the story be essentially the same or dramatically different if it was set in urban Chicago and Brazil, or some other places?

10. What do you think comes next for these characters?

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