Why was it important for the authors to start the book from Justin’s perspective after he got shot?.What is the title of the novel addressing?.Book Club Questions for We Are Not Like Them But at its heart, it’s a story of enduring friendship-a love that defies the odds even as it faces its most difficult challenges. Like Tayari Jones’s An American Marriage and Jodi Picoult’s Small Great Things, We Are Not Like Them explores complex questions of race and how they pervade and shape our most intimate spaces in a deeply divided world. Covering this career-making story, Riley wrestles with the implications of this tragic incident for her Black community, her ambitions, and her relationship with her lifelong friend. Six months pregnant, Jen is in freefall as her future, her husband’s freedom, and her friendship with Riley are thrown into uncertainty. Riley pursued her childhood dream of becoming a television journalist and is poised to become one of the first Black female anchors of the top news channel in their hometown of Philadelphia.īut the deep bond they share is severely tested when Jen’s husband, a city police officer, is involved in the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager. Jen married young, and after years of trying, is finally pregnant. As adults, they remain as close as sisters, though their lives have taken different directions. Jen and Riley have been best friends since kindergarten. Both characters received equal play and the book doesn’t ask you to take sides but to see each of their different perspectives.

I thought the authors-Christine Pride and Jo Piazza-really painted the picture of both Riley and Jen’s very different circumstances. It’s one I’ll be thinking about for a long time. It’s a fiction story but everything about it felt so real. This is a fantastic novel! Emotional, heartbreaking and full of so much truth.

We are not like them jo piazza