EVERY LAST PROMISE

CUSS. REPE
D. DIS AT
A .
RE

KRISTIN HALBROOK

ABOUT THE BOOK Book

Kayla saw something at the party that she wasn’t supposed to. But she Club
hasn’t told anyone. No one knows the real story about what happened Pick!
that night—about why Kayla was driving the car that ran into a ditch
after the party, about what she saw in the hours leading up to the
accident, and about the promise she made to her friend Bean before she
left for the summer.
Now Kayla’s coming home for her senior year. If Kayla keeps quiet, she
might be able to get her old life back. If she tells the truth, she risks
losing everything—and everyone—she ever cared about.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. K
 ayla’s narration jumps between two time periods—this
fall and the previous spring—throughout the book. What
differences do you see in fall and spring Kayla’s voice? How
would your understanding of her character change if the story
were told linearly?
2. I t’s evident that Kayla loves her hometown, but she no longer
feels like she belongs. Do you think she’ll ever be able to
consider it home again? What role do people play in our
perception of places?
3. J ay and the rest of the football team experience great
privilege, socially and academically. Besides being generally
unfair, what dangers can this present? Why does the majority
of the town put them on a pedestal, even when some do
wrong?
4. K
 ayla struggles with the night of the car crash, pretending
to have memory loss longer than she truly does. Can
you understand her motivation for doing so? What does
admitting to remembering mean to her?
5. K
 ayla says, “Bean hasn’t stayed silent because she’s wanted to.
It’s because she had to” (pg 190). Do you agree with Kayla?
How do Kayla, Bean, and Jay’s choices to stay silent differ?
6. After returning from Kansas City, Kayla faces intense
bullying from her classmates and former best friends. Were
you surprised by the extent of the harassment Kayla faced?
How would you cope with a similar bullying situation?
7. How is suspense used as a tool in Every Last Promise? At what
point in the story were you able to piece together the events
that occurred the night of Jen’s party?
8. Noah is one of the only people to welcome Kayla back. How
does his friendship help Kayla cope with the events of that
tragic night? What does Noah teach her about belonging?
9. Though several people know the truth about what happened
to Bean, Kayla explains their decision to not speak up,
saying, “We want to be safe more than we want justice
for one of our best friends” (pg 248). Do you understand
the difficulty of their choice? What would you do in this
situation?
10. At the conclusion of Every Last Promise, Bean, Kayla, and
Noah all come forward about the sexual assault. Though
their decision to do so was delayed, why was it important
that they did so? What do we gain when speaking out for
what’s right?

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