Introduction

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From America’s favorite government teacher, a “fascinating and fun” (Adam Grant) portrait of twelve ordinary Americans whose courage formed the character of our country.

In The Small and the Mighty, Sharon McMahon proves that the most remarkable Americans are often ordinary people who didn’t make it into the textbooks. Not the presidents, but the telephone operators. Not the aristocrats, but the schoolteachers. Through meticulous research, she discovers history’s unsung characters and brings their rich, riveting stories to light for the first time.

You’ll meet a woman astride a white horse riding down Pennsylvania Ave, a young boy detained at a Japanese incarceration camp, a formerly enslaved woman on a mission to reunite with her daughter, a poet on a train, and a teacher who learns to work with her enemies. More than one thing is bombed, and multiple people surprisingly become rich. Some rich with money, and some wealthy with things that matter more.

This is a book about what really made America – and Americans – great. McMahon’s cast of improbable champions will become familiar friends, lighting the path we journey in our quest to make the world more just, peaceful, good, and free.

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Discussion Questions

From the publisher:

1. Did this book inspire you to take any actions in your own life, no matter how large or small your personal sphere of influence? If so, what?

2. Are you optimistic or pessimistic about America's ability to change? Has your view changed at all as a result of reading this book?

3. What led you to read this book? What were you hoping to get out of it -- and did you?

4. Were you familiar with any of the people that McMahon profiled before reading this book?

5. Which of the individuals profiled did you find most inspiring, and why?

6. Was there anyone that you'd like to learn more about after finishing this book?

7. What did you think about how the book was structured? Did you find it easy or hard to follow?

8. What about the author's interjections and commentary? Did you enjoy hearing her point of view or do you prefer when nonfiction narratives stand on their own?

9. Do you agree with McMahon that hope is a choice, not a feeling? What does it mean to "choose" hope, and how can we do so in our day-to-day lives?

10. Do you agree that it is the small and the mighty who make America great?

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