Compare the first time Macy meets Velvet with when Macy finds out about Velvet’s death. Why does Macy care about Velvet? In what ways do events in Velvet’s life have an impact on Macy?
How would you describe Macy’s relationship with Yasmin from Yasmin’s perspective and from Macy’s? In what ways are Macy and Yasmin similar? Why do you think Macy is loyal to her mother despite their antagonistic relationship?
Discuss Macy’s feelings about her father. Why does Macy initially keep her mother’s cheating a secret, and why does she eventually decide to be honest with her father? What would you have done in her position?
What do you learn about Macy’s relationship with her mom from her poem “Daughter to Mother”? Does it change what you thought of their relationship before reading the poem?
Macy is extremely protective of Zane, George, and Alma. What does this say about Macy as a person? In what ways does it backfire, and why?
Macy thinks she knows Alma better than anyone and is stunned to realize Alma has kept many secrets from her. What did Macy miss? What clues throughout the story reveal that Alma is less perfect and put-together than Macy believes?
What forms of sexual violence has Macy experienced? How do these experiences influence what she does to Alma? What goes through Macy’s mind when she learns about what Alma’s uncle is doing to her?
When Macy is getting treatment, how does her experience differ from her life before? In what ways is it similar? What aspects of the experience are healing for Macy and how?
Macy memorizes the names of the girls kidnapped from Nigeria. Why are these girls so important to her?
Why do you think Macy writes her story in dictionary format? What does this format tell you about Macy as a character?
What do you think will happen to Macy, George, Alma, and Zane after the end of the book? How has Macy changed since the beginning, and in what ways has she remained the same?
About the Author
NoNieqa Ramos spent her childhood in the Bronx, where she started her own publishing company and sold books for twenty-five cents until the nuns shut her down. With the support of her single father and her tías, she earned dual master’s degrees in creative writing and education at the University of Notre Dame. As a teacher, she has dedicated herself to bringing gifted-and-talented education to minority students and expanding access to literature, music, and theater for all children. A frequent foster parent, NoNieqa lives in Ashburn, Virginia, with her family.
The Disturbed Girl's Dictionary
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Information
Dedication
Epigraph
Always/Never
Apple
Am
All about You
Annoying
Any Day Now
A-W-A-Y
Afraid
Against All Odds
Against All Odds
Animal
Alone
Answer
Answer 2
Bargain
Because
Bestie
Blow
Book Club
Blessing
Breasts
Bring it
Burner
Call
Canada
Circle
Clang
Class
Court
Cute
Daddy
Dear Reader
Detention
Disturbed
Deepest
Didn't
Dolphin
Do Not Disturb
Even You
Fabuloso
Fine Print
Field Trip
Feed
Fly
Firelight
Bury
Fuácata!
Funhouse
Fun and Games
Funeral
Gas
Give Up
Gifted and Talented
Good-bye
Hydra
Have
Helmet
Island
I Don't Want to
Talk about It
I Have a Dream
Kitty
Langston Hughes
Lips
Life
Love Supreme
Like the River
Monsters
Maybe
Pink
Pocket
Question
Ready or Not
Super
Signs
Stop
Script
Stranger
Split
Secret
Sky
Swan
Scar
Sister
Stain
Snow
To Be or Not to Be Me
Vagina
Visitors
Vanishing
White Coats
Words
Why
Wilma
X
Yolanda
Yasmin
You
Z
Zombie
Agüeybaná II
Macy Cashmere's
Dope Playlist
Shoutout
Acknowledgments
Topics for Discussion
About the Author
Back Cover
The Disturbed Girl's Dictionary Page 23