Reader’s Guide – Raising Ripples

Raising Ripples is a young teen novel concerning human trafficking. The characters have animalistic traits, and their DNA is not necessarily stable. Seven-year-old Ripples is looking for his best friend. When he disappears, his older sister, Foxii, and her new friend Pterro follow his clues to find him. His sister is also captured and Pterro must find a way to believe in himself and the God of his friends to lead the Safety Authorities to not only Foxii and Ripples but to several others who also had been taken from their families.

1. Foxii is described as a ‘Rebel without a cause’. As young people, what do we want to rebel against, and what kind of causes are worth the effort?

2. Newgale has access to wander the city looking for kids. Why doesn’t she simply run away from her kidnappers? Why does she keep doing the work of kidnapping other kids? What lies does she tell herself?

3. Ripples seems to be the least affected by the entire ordeal. Why do you think this is? What kind of long-term effects could show up later, and how could he avoid them?

4. The quotation from Mother Teresa speaks about ripples. What kind of ‘ripples’ were caused or used in the story? What kind of ‘ripples’ do we cause on a daily basis? Both the good and the bad.

5. Human trafficking is an issue in our world. Have you ever heard of someone going missing? How could people be taken or sold around us in today’s society? How can we stop this from happening?