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Reader Group Questions
Drenched In Light is a combination of fact and fiction. I was never a dancer—in fact, I flunked out of ballet school before the first recital. This was a great disappointment to me because I desperately wanted the recital costume, so I could play “princesses” with my neighborhood friends. I was, however, a fairly serious gymnast, so I understand Julia's desire to compete, and her struggle with body image.During my first year in college, I had a dormitory friend who was a bright, beautiful girl, but was always melancholy and conflicted about college life. While the rest of us were excited about moving into this new phase, she was very focused on the past and detached from future plans—almost as if she were walking around in someone else's body. Her parents called often, yet she avoided the calls as often as possible. It eventually became clear that they were concerned about their daughter's ongoing struggle with an eating disorder, and a bout of depression related to her having to give up a long-held dream of professional dance. She left college when the semester ended, and I always wondered if she was able to overcome her sense of loss and move into a new life.
The character of Julia Costell grew from that process of wondering, as well as from a desire to know what happens next in the life of Dell Jordan , as she moves from an existence of poverty and neglect in her birth family to a foster family able to open the doors to one of Kansas City 's finest arts academies. Unfortunately, seizing opportunity isn't always as easy as it appears, and for Dell, a large arts high school seems like the other side of the moon. In a place where performance and perfection are expected, problems are often swept under the rug. As newly-hired guidance counselor, Julia Costell, delves into the problems of new student, Dell Jordan, both begin to realize that the smooth surface of Harrison Academy may be hiding a crippling undertow.
Click the book to read the first chaper of Drenched In Light.
