Count Me In

How does Karina’s home and family impact the way that she sees herself? In what ways is she proud of her cultural identity? Why does she fear others knowing more about her background? How does her outlook change?

Compare and contrast Karina and Chris’s voices and narrative styles. How can readers tell whose point of view they are reading about? What techniques does Bajaj use to differentiate her two protagonists’ narrative styles?

What does Karina’s grandfather teach Karina and Chris? What does Shiv believe about the world? How does he pass on these beliefs?

What do Karina and Chris discover about their personalities and character traits over the course of the novel? Which experiences contribute to these revelations?

Consider different kinds of fear in the novel. How do Karina’s fear of her bullies and Chris’s fear of not fitting in with Quinn’s group differ from their fear of the attacker? How do Karina and Chris respond to these different fears, and how do they grow as a result of managing them?

Analyze Karina’s photography hobby and social media presence as forms of self-expression. Does her understanding of photography and social media use change after the attack? Why or why not?

Explore the ways in which friendship and community help Karina, Chris, and Shiv to heal. Who are the members of their community and what role do they play in the primary characters’ storylines?

How do the characters use their voices to create change? Why do they feel that speaking up is an important way to deal with violence and hatred? How do their individual voices encourage one another?