Life in
a Fishbowl
Life in
a Fishbowl
LEN VLA HOS
DISCUSSION N OT ES
@LenVlahos #LifeInAFishbowl
LEN VLAHOS
DISCUSSION
NOTES
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Life in
a Fishbowl
LEN VLA HOS
DISCUSSION N OT ES
@LenVlahos #LifeInAFishbowl
ABOUT THE BOOK
Jackie’s life wasn’t perfect, but at least it was normal. That is, until her dad received a terminal cancer
diagnosis. Then he went and did what anyone faced with mountains of medical bills and a family to
support would do: he sold his life to the highest bidder. Which turned out to be a TV station.
Suddenly everyone from psychotic millionaires to cyber-savvy nuns wants a piece of Jackie’s family as
they become a reality TV sensation. Jackie’s life spirals out of control just as her dad’s starts to run out,
and meanwhile the whole world is tuning in to watch her family fall apart …
Acidly funny and heartbreakingly sad, Life in a Fishbowl is an exploration of the value of life and what
memories mean to us.
SYNOPSIS
Fifteen-year-old Jackie Stone is an introvert who prefers spending time in anonymity online to engaging
with the outside world. Then, suddenly, Jackie’s already uneasy life is thrown into utter turmoil when her
beloved dad, Jared, is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and given a few months to live. All Jared’s
anxieties are for his family. He knows his wife’s income won’t cover the mortgage and medical bills when
he’s gone (he’s working two jobs to keep his family afloat as it is), and so Jared takes the radical decision
to auction his life to the highest bidder. Enter Ethan Overbee, an unscrupulous, egotistical TV executive
who has Jared’s eBay listing taken down in order to secure the Stone family for his own gain: he will buy
Jared’s life and make him the star of a reality show like no other. As the whole of America tunes in to
witness Jared’s deterioration, with the family’s every move and emotion captured on film, Jackie is on the
verge of falling apart while her younger sister, Megan, is falling in love with the idea of becoming rich and
famous.
Meanwhile, the disturbed boy billionaire Sherman Kingsborough, and Internet-addicted nun Sister
Benedict Joan, who’d originally bid on Jared, remain determined to have an impact on his life – and death.
But enough is enough, thinks Jackie and, driven by anger at the way the show is misrepresenting her
family, and with the heartfelt support of an online friend in Russia and a sympathetic gaming fanatic, she
resolves to expose the production company for what it really is, and to give her dad the dignified death he
deserves.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Follow Len on Twitter: @LenVlahos
Visit bloomsbury.com/childrens for more reading guides
Photograph © Kristen Gilligan
Len Vlahos dropped out of NYU film school in the mid 80s to play guitar
and write songs for Woofing Cookies, a punk-pop four piece that toured
up and down the East Coast. He is the author of The Scar Boys, which
was a William C. Morris Award finalist and highly acclaimed by reviewers
(‘a wry, stylish tale’, New York Times; ‘distinguished in every way’, School
Library Journal). Len lives in Denver with his wife and two young sons,
where he owns the Tattered Cover Book Store.
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Life in
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Before reading
FOR DISCUSSION
1. Consider the title, cover and strapline. What kind of book do you expect this to be?
Love
2a. ‘Jackie Stone loved her father. She loved him a lot’ (p.1). How does this opening line establish the
themes of the novel?
2b. ‘Love, she figured, can make us weak-kneed and wobbly, but when it needs to, it can make us
stronger than steel’ (Deirdre, p.307). Discuss the different ways that the strength of love is revealed in
this book.
Diagnosis
3. ‘[The doctor] delivered this news as a matter of fact, as if she were reporting the temperature and
humidity, but Jared could see her eyes welling up, and he felt sorry for her’ (p.6). What does Jared’s
immediate reaction to his terminal diagnosis reveal about his character?
The tumour
4. ‘The high-grade glioblastoma multiforme tumor liked Jared Stone’s brain. It liked it a lot. In fact,
it found it delicious’ (p.6). Why do you think the author personifies Jared’s tumour? How does the
personality of the tumour change as the novel progresses? What effect does the personification have
on your feelings about Jared’s condition?
Jackie
5. ‘The only place outside the house where Jackie felt comfortable was on the Internet … For one thing,
she loved the anonymity’ (p.10). How does this early statement about Jackie’s character foreshadow
the events that unfold? How well does she cope with the intrusion of the production company?
6. ‘ “Dad, are you okay?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, just a lot of work today.”
Jackie could tell it was a lie.” ’ (p.11)
How did Jackie know her dad was lying?
Money
7a. ‘ “I need money,” he said aloud’ (p.13). What do Jared’s worries about leaving his family ‘in a bad
financial state’ reveal about the sort of person he is?
7b. ‘Money. The word in this context seemed filthy’ (p.107). Why does money seem filthy to Jackie at this
point? Can money be ‘filthy’? Discuss what the need and desire for money might do to people. What’s
the difference between needing money and wanting it? Consider ‘boy billionaire’ Sherman who has way
more than he needs, and the homeless man to whom Jackie gives her $5 (p.106).
Multiple selves
8. ‘You could be who or what you wanted in that world, not only in the characters you played but in the
stories you told’ (p.20). There is sometimes a disparity between person we are, and the version of our
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selves we present to the world. Why do you think that is? Can you think of any examples from your own
experience? Discuss in relation to Jackie, Megan, Hazel and Max.
The Internet
9. Discuss the good and bad sides of the Internet in relation to Hazel, Max and Sister Benedict.
Empathy
10. Discuss the nature of empathy. To what extent is it possible to understand how it feels to be in
someone else’s situation?
Motives
11. Compare and contrast what led Ethan Overbee, Hazel Huck, Sister Benedict and Sherman
Kingsborough to contact Jared. Discuss the morality of their respective motivations.
Euthanasia
12a. Jackie’s ‘immediate reaction was that any kind of suicide was wrong ... But her gut reaction
was different. In her heart, Jackie believed that people should be able to make up their own minds
about anything they wanted, as long as it didn’t hurt anyone else’ (p.42–43). Do you agree with this
statement? Discuss the ethics of euthanasia.
Sherman
12b. ‘Who am I, he thought, to decide who should live or die?’ (p.136). Why does Sherman think he can
make this decision? What drives his attempt to kill Jared?
The eBay listing
13. ‘Jared didn’t know if he should laugh or cry, if he was relieved or distraught’ (p.66). Why might Jared
have felt ‘relieved’ when his eBay bid was taken down? How did you feel?
Memories
14. Consider the descriptions and effects of Jared’s memory loss. To what extent are humans the sum of
their memories?
Ethan
15. What did you think of Ethan’s comment, ‘if I were in your shoes, I’d want every second I could have
with my kids’ (p.108). Why do you think he says this to Jared?
The TV show
16. ‘Their house was being transformed into a cruel kind of fishbowl and all they could do was pucker
and swim’ (p.115). How did you feel about the attitudes and actions of the production team? Would you
have tried to escape the ‘fishbowl’? What might you have done to make the experience less ‘cruel’ and
intrusive?
17. ‘Someone scrawls ‘Your father’s a freak!’ across Jackie’s locker’ (p.123). Why would someone do that?
Do you think there’s anything ‘freakish’ about what Jared does?
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Max
18. ‘The project made her feel subversive, rebellious, and so very alive’ (p.178). How important is Max and
his idea to how Jackie copes?
Humour
19. What role does humour play in the novel? What role can humour play in difficult situations?
Megan
20a. How did you feel about Jackie’s sister, Megan? Do you understand why she was worried about
becoming a ‘nobody’ (p.227)? Do you understand why she broke her family’s strike and betrayed her
sister? Are her actions inexcusable?
Siblings
20b. ‘They were gasoline and a lit match’ (p.96). Discuss the relationship between siblings Jackie and
Megan. Does it change through the course of the novel?
‘He liked it a lot’
21. Throughout the novel, the phrase ‘s/he liked it/him/her/them a lot’ is applied to various characters.
Why do you think the author does this? What effect does this have?
Sister Benedict
22. What was your first impression of Sister Benedict? Did it change during the course of the novel? ‘The
Sister went through the rest of the house to see how else she could help’ (p.240). Does Sister Benedict
help in any way? Were you surprised by anything she says or does?
Moving moments
23. Which two moments in the novel did you find most moving? Why?
Deidre
24. ‘This is for you, Jare. I love you’ (Deidre, p.307). Were you shocked when Deidre turned off Jared’s
ventilator and smothered him? What made her end her husband’s life? What enabled her to end her
husband’s life? Do you think ‘mercy killings’ are any different from murder?
Changing opinions
25. Has this novel changed any of your opinions about a) reality TV shows and b) euthanasia?
Coming-of-age
26. Can Life in a Fishbowl be considered a coming-of-age story? What does Jackie learn about herself
and the ways of the world during the course of the novel?
The ending
27. How satisfying did you find the novel’s ending? How did the final paragraph make you feel?
The title
28. What did you think of the title? Think of three alternative titles.
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BEYOND THE BOOK
Create a thematic collage
Create a visual representation of the novel. Perhaps it could feature photographs, excerpts from the
novel, or your own illustrations of particular characters, events, emotions and themes.
Back cover copy
Write your own back cover copy for Life in a Fishbowl. Think about which elements of the story
potential readers should know about. Think about the style and tone of your copy – it needs to grab
the attention of potential readers and give a flavour of the book. You might like to consider including a
short excerpt.
The big debate
1. Randomly split the class into Team For and Team Against to discuss the key points for both sides of
the argument for and against euthanasia
2. Hold the debate, with a representative from each team making their best case.
Extreme reality
Come up with your own idea for an extreme reality TV show. What’s your setting? How will your show
create a sense of drama to keep people viewing? Will it be a contest, or will it have a fly-on-the-wall
approach? If it has contestants, how will they apply, or be selected? What tests or moral dilemmas
might your contestants face? If there is to be a winner, how will they be chosen?
Moving on
Write an additional chapter set five years later from the perspective of either Sister Benedict or Megan.
Have they changed? What are they now doing with their lives?
Further reading
By the same author
The Scar Boys
Scar Girl
By other authors
A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness
The Loose Ends List, Carrie Firestone
The Sky is Everywhere, Jandy Nelson
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
When We Collided, Emery Lord
Holding Up the Universe, Jennifer Niven
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