Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Discussion at 1pm
"Gather is about gathering together resources, people, and love. Kenneth
M. Cadow tells a story about finding value in what--and who--might be
easily overlooked.
--National Book Foundation Judges
Gather (2023)
by Kenneth M. Cadow
[Cah' dough]
Ian Gray isn’t supposed to have a dog, but a lot of things that shouldn’t happen end up happening anyway. And Gather, Ian’s adopted pup, is good company now that Ian has to quit the basketball team, find a job, and take care of his mom as she tries to overcome her opioid addiction. Despite the obstacles thrown their way, Ian is determined to keep his family afloat no matter what it takes. And for a little while, things are looking up: Ian makes friends, and his fondness for the outdoors and for fixing things lands him work helping neighbors. But an unforeseen tragedy results in Ian and his dog taking off on the run, trying to evade a future that would mean leaving their house and their land. Even if the community comes together to help him, would Ian and Gather have a home to return to? Told in a wry, cautious first-person voice, Kenneth M. Cadow’s resonant novel, a 2023 National Book Award Finalist, brings an emotional and ultimately hopeful story of one teen’s resilience in the face of unthinkable hardships.
Resources for the book:
- Gather was Vermont Reads' 2024 state-wide pick. They are still running programs this summer.
- Presentation by the author at The Norwich Bookstore (spoilers)
- Vermont Public Radio article on the book
- Cadow doesn't have any other books (yet?), but I did find a blog post he wrote about reading and writing.
Discussion prompts: (spoilers) [some from Candlewick Press or Read with Reagan]
- What meanings does the word gather have for Ian?
- Ian discusses different kinds of intelligence and learning. He contrasts typical school subjects like math and history with the skills and knowledge that make it possible to survive in the country. Do you think one of these types of knowledge is better or more important than the other? Do you think high school does an adequate job of preparing people for adulthood?
- How did the first-person perspective affect the reading experience for you?
- Do you think names (like Gather, The Sharpe, Ian vs. Dorian) affect how a person behaves, who they become, and how others treat them?
- Throughout the story, we meet a cast of characters who are all trying their best to get by. What was your favorite example of a person making a decision that is right for them, but wrong for others?
- Ian keeps a lot of his thoughts and struggles to himself. Do you think this more helped or hurt him
- What does storytelling (as both teller and listener) represent to Ian?
- How does classism affect the incident with the shirt (p. 218)? Where else in the book do you see evidence of classism? Where do we see classism in our community? Does the book offer any insight that can affect change?
- Ian is tied to the land like few others. He says, “I am the woods and the fields and the bass and the trout from our rivers and streams. You are what you eat, you are what you do, and everything I ever learned to do, I learned here, in my town and on our land” (page 232). How does Ian's landscape inform the story? Does your own sense of place run as strongly through your veins as it does for Ian?
- When Ian discovers that it is Sylvia’s family that has posted “no hunting” signs on the land where he used to hunt, he feels like he has been “eating with the enemy” (p.160), and yet they are all so nice. How do you / does he reconcile those two things?
Go beyond the book:
- I strongly encourage you to scroll all the way through the Vermont Reads Gather page.
- Give or receive help right here in Hopkinton through the Human Services Dept. and statewide
- Get involved with Family Promise of Greater Concord, which helps families experiencing homelessness
- Read this recent article on homeless youth in Manchester.
Read-a-likes in the HTL collection: (for various reasons)
- The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger (coming of age, stream of consciousness)
- Nunez's novel The Friend (FIC NUN, also the new movie adaptation on DVD) (big dog offers support during grief and hardship)
- Harry's Trees, Cohen
- Salvage the Bones, Ward