1. A D I S C U S S I O N G U I D E B Y T H E A U T H O R
SHINEBYCANDYGOURLAY

2. Characters

3. Rosa

4. Rosa suffers
from the Calm.

5. She lives on
an island where
people like her
must hide away.

6. She can leave
the island but
she doesn’t
want to …

7. … because she wants
to see her mother’s
ghost again.

8. Rosa is lonely and
isolated but she doesn’t
want to change her life.
Why?
Think

9. How does Rosa cope with
her isolation? Would you
be able to cope with being
isolated like Rosa if you
had the Internet?
Think

10. Rosa’s desire to see
her mother’s ghost is
so powerful she is
willing to give up her
freedom. Why?
Think

11. Is there something you
want so much that you
would be willing to
give up a lot to get it?
Think

12. Ansel95

13. Ansel95 is Rosa’s
secret online friend.

14. He takes beautiful
pictures and because
of him, Rosa’s hidden
life becomes bearable.

15. But he’s figured out
where she lives
… and now he
wants to meet.
But now he wants to meet up ...

16. But he’s figured out
where she lives
… and now he
wants to meet.
Rosa does not want to meet her
only friend face to face. What is
she afraid of?
Think

17. But he’s figured out
where she lives
… and now he
wants to meet.
Rosa and Ansel95 develop false
versions of themselves online. Why?
How different are they from their
online personas?
Think

18. But he’s figured out
where she lives
… and now he
wants to meet.Discuss how people portray
themselves online. What about you?
Do you pretend to be something
you’re not? Why? How has the
internet changed the way people see
themselves?
Think

19. Setting

20. Shine is set on Mirasol,
an isolated island where it
never stops raining.

21. When I started writing Shine, there were terrible
floods in Manila where I grew up. I was struck by
how floods that seemed such an ordinary part of
life in the Philippines would be unthinkable
in other places.

22. FLOOD
IN
MANILA,
2008

23. I also read the short story All Summer in a Day by
Ray Bradbury – about children who live on Venus
where it never stops raining. And what happens
when they meet another child who has actually
seen the sun.

24. SCREEN
GRAB
FROM
THE
FILM
‘ALL
SUMMER
IN
A
DAY’
If you get a chance to read All Summer
in a Day – compare the Venus children
to the people of Mirasol.
Why did they treat
Margot the
way they did?

25. Unending rain is ordinary to the people
of Mirasol. How do you think rain affects
their culture, beliefs and way of life?
Think

26. In a way, Mirasol is just as
isolated as Rosa. If Mirasol were human, what
sort of person would he or she be? Why?
Did you get the sense that the island was also
a character in the story? Why?
Think

27. People on Mirasol are superstitious.
They believe in ghosts.

28. A ghost is a trapped soul.

29. Think
One could say that several of the
characters in Shine are trapped souls.
Which characters are trapped, and why?

30. When people ask me what Shine is about, I reply,
‘It’s a ghost story.’ But the blurb on the cover says:
‘This is not a ghost story. Though there are plenty
of ghosts in it.’ Do you know what I mean?

31. Here is the cover blurb again:
“This is not a ghost story.
Though there are plenty of ghosts in it.
And it’s not a horror story.
Though some people might be horrified.
It’s not a monster story either.
Though there is a monster in it
and that monster happens to be me.”

32. Think
Who are the ghosts in Shine?
Who are the monsters?

33. Windows and doors
feature throughout
the novel. Why?
Think

34. Story

35. Shine is told in two voices.
There are two plotlines that
converge at the end.
One of the stories is about twin sisters.

36. I was exploring many dualities: light and
dark, happiness and sorrow, being the same
and being different. Have you noticed the
contrasts and oppositions in the story?

37. What do the the two plotlines
within Shine share?
Think

38. How are they different?
Think

39. How did the two stories
come together in the end?
Think

40. It never stops raining in Mirasol.
So why is the book called Shine?
Think

41. Thank you for reading
Shine. I hope this
discussion guide got
you thinking and made
the story even more
enjoyable.

42. If you liked Shine, try these:
These are four hugely different books but they all share Shine’s theme
of entrapment. And I loved reading them : left to right, a girl who has
an invisible friend, a boy with Asperger's, teenagers trapped in a
mountain and a boy escaping World War II Nazis.