Book Club Questions for Children of Ever After by Avery Yearwood

In the heart of West Philadelphia, two women’s lives collide in a heart-wrenching tale of love, loss, and unexpected redemption.

Brittney, a young mother abandoned by her children’s father, struggles to raise three children in an apartment she can barely afford. Her neighbor reports her to the Department of Human Services and DHS decides the children are ‘unsafe,’ an amorphous accusation no one can define.

As Brittney argues with a skeptical judge, caseworkers place her children with Rebecca, a forty-year-old professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Rebecca knows the children aren’t hers to keep, but once the patter of tiny feet fills the quiet halls of her Victorian home, she can’t imagine life without them.

The two women are on opposing sides of a custody battle, but under the shadow of an inept foster care system, they begin to realize they have more in common than they thought. Together, they ask the question: in an imperfect world, can they somehow forge their own versions of family, love, and motherhood?

Kirkus Starred Review gushes, “Yearwood’s dry wit and literary style will keep readers engrossed, fascinated by the complex, beautiful women she has created. A tender, heartbreaking, and exceptionally intelligent study of contemporary motherhood in all its complexity.”

You won’t be able to put this book down and it will leave you needing to talk about it, which is perfect for book clubs. Here are some questions to kick off the discussion:

1. Was Will a good partner to Rebecca? Should he have made a decision about not wanting children earlier? 
2. What are the biggest factors that led to DHS coming to Brittney’s apartment? 
3. Should DHS have taken Brittney’s children when they were called? 
4. Should Rebecca have done anything differently to help Brittney? 
5. How should DHS have treated Brittney once her children were in their custody? 
6. Did Brittney make the best choices she could given the circumstances?  
7. How do you think Rebecca and Brittney’s relationship will develop in the future? 
8. Are there any elements of American cultural norms that impacted both Brittney and Rebecca’s struggles?
9. How do women’s relationships with children differ to men’s relationships with children in America today? How much has this evolved in the last fifty years? 
10. How would the children’s lives turned out differently if they had never left Brittney’s custody? 
11. Should the foster care system and family law system be reformed? Why hasn’t it been?