Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for The Black Girl Survives in This One by Desiree S. Evans

Book Club Discussion Questions

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Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. In her introduction, Tananarive Due writes, "These young Black women protagonists are navigating a dangerous world that puts their survival, or their sanity, at risk—and they show us how to overcome. Which is exactly what we love about horror stories." Do you agree? How do the stories in this anthology "show us how to overcome"? Pick a few examples to discuss.
2. Although all of these stories fall within the horror genre, they differ widely in terms of tone and subject matter. Did reading this anthology change the way you think about horror? Explain.
3. Was there a story in the anthology that particularly stood out to you? What made it so memorable?
4. The first story in the anthology is "Harvesters" and the last is "Foxhunt." Do you have any thoughts as to why the editors might have chosen those particular stories? What was the experience for you of beginning and ending there?
5. Some of these stories invoke regional folk horror, including the lost girls in "The Brides of Devil's Bayou," the soukouyan in "Inheritance," and the plat-eye in "Local Color." How do the authors reimagine these classic legends? Do you have any horror folklore or mythology in your family? If so, would you like to share?
6. When Janine finally overcomes Mary, the theater ghost, in "Ghost Light," she reflects: "Her attention to the elements that made the play had helped her, but that was only a part of it. Owning the magic—her magic—in the machine of the show had saved her life." What do you think Janine means by owning "her magic"? How much agency does she, and the other characters in these stories, have in her own survival?
7. Sam decides to give away the flip phone in "TMI" only a couple of days after receiving it from Etta. Do you think you would have done the same? What are the pros and cons, as you see it, of having the phone? Would you consider it overall to be a gift or a curse?
8. At the end of "Black Pride," Sheryl has to decide whether or not she will join her friends and transform into a werelion:
   
   She wanted to change the world. There was more than one way to do that. Tonya had known that, and now Sheryl did as well. It could be that Tonya's way, justice by tooth and claw rather than lawyers and a system that didn't even consider Black people fully human when it was built, was the better answer. Or maybe, just maybe, Sheryl could forge a path somewhere between the two extremes.
   
   Do you sympathize with Tonya and the others' ideas about how best to fight for justice? What might Sheryl's path "between the two extremes" look like?
9. In "Black Girl Nature Group," Lucky and Jazz found community through the original Black Girl Nature Group, especially since the outdoors can feel like a very white space. As Lucky reflects:
   
   She's used to this specific brand of white person hiker. The ones who are surprised to see someone like her here, also enjoying the great outdoors. They cover up their shock with nods. They stand closer than they should, hoping to showcase their tolerance through an accidental elbow graze.
   
   Notice how I didn't recoil? I welcome you.
   
   What racism do the characters in this particular story, and in the anthology more widely, face? How does their Blackness shape them? Discuss some moments that stood out to you.
10. In some stories, such as "The Screamers" and "The Skittering Thing," characters battle monsters, and in others, such as "Black Pride" and "Inheritance," they become monsters. Did reading this anthology change the way you think about monsters? If so, how? Did you have a favorite fantastical creature from the anthology?
11. What is the role of lineage and ancestors in these stories? How do characters use family history as a lens to understand themselves, and how do they break from tradition to survive? What about larger historical forces, such as colonialism and racism? Pick a few examples to discuss.
12. The horror in "Queeniums for Greenium!" comes not from a physical monster but from the disinformation that has divided Synthia from her sister, Diana. How do you understand that divide? Do you think Diana genuinely has Synthia's best interests at heart? Do you see a way forward for their relationship?
13. In "Black Strings," when Mal figures out that Nora has been manipulating people's black strings, she confronts her. Nora asks Mal, in return, "What's the point of being able to choose who lives and who dies if I never choose?" Do you sympathize at all with Nora's actions, since she was trying to help her struggling best friend, Essie? Do you understand the ability to see the strings as a power Mal and Nora should use, regardless of any collateral damage, or would it be better for them to do nothing?
14. Flex, the heroine of "Foxhunt," is constantly being told by her therapist and her sister that she is too fearful. But she argues, instead, that "she was not afraid of anything. She was simply ready for it." What do you think she means? How do you understand Flex's state of mind and motivations? Do they shift over the course of the story?
15. There's a wide range of emotions centered in these stories, including grief, longing, dislocation, and, of course, fear. But there is also laughter and joy, especially in stories like "Cemetery Dance Party." Discuss the ways in which humor and horror can sit side by side in these stories.
16. All of these stories feature a Black final girl who survives, as the anthology's title tells us, but not all of them have victorious, empowering endings—some are more ambiguous, as in "Welcome Back to the Cosmos." What did you make of the final image in that particular story of the spacesuit floating in space with the helmet ripped off? Did any other endings especially surprise you? Would you describe the stories as hopeful, or are hope and survival sometimes different things?
17. What was the effect for you of reading all of these stories together in one anthology, rather than individually? Did you notice any interesting connections or echoes between the stories that changed your overall reading experience? If so, discuss.

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Flatiron Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.