Jessilyn Lassiter no longer has to convince people she’s not a child. Having just turned 19 in the summer of 1936, her love for Luke Talley has never been more real. And Luke is finally beginning to care for her in the way she's always dreamed of.
But their budding romance is interrupted when Tal Pritchett—a young, black doctor—comes to Calloway, stealing the heart of Jessilyn’s best friend, Gemma, and stirring up the racial prejudice that has been simmering just beneath the town's surface.
The tension starts to bubble over when Jessie's elderly neighbor Miss Cleta becomes the first white townsperson to accept Tal’s treatment. And when a young black man is lynched, Calloway is brought to its knees once again as Jessilyn realizes that her anger can make her heart as full of hate as the Ku Klux Klan members who have terrorized her town and her family.
1. In Catching Moondrops, racial prejudice again rears its ugly head in Calloway, and some members of the black community are increasingly unwilling to accept it. While Malachi Jarvis becomes defiant, Tal Pritchett favors a more peaceful resistance. Discuss the different approaches these men take to express their independence.
2. The Ku Klux Klan reappears six years after they terrorized the Lassiter family. How does Jessilyn’s reaction differ from Gemma’s? Jessilyn and Gemma are polar opposites. Jessilyn isn’t a believer in Gemma’s God. Gemma can share her burden with her Creator. Jessilyn takes on a battle by sharing her inner thoughts while Gemma prays to her God for relief.
3. When Gemma’s church is burned, she and Jessilyn have opposite reactions yet again. While Gemma’s main concern is the well-being of Tal and the others at the church, Jessilyn is consumed by a desire for revenge. What does this tell us about Gemma’s heart? About Jessilyn’s? The book is written by a Christian and on that token is showing the difference of a heart of a believer and of a non-believer. Of course, Jessilyn is the non-believer and takes on battles on her own, Gemma being the heart filled with the Grace of the Son of God is forgiving, less burdened, more at peace with allowing God to carry the burden.
4. Jessilyn isn’t the only one discovering love this time around. Tal Pritchett quickly turns Gemma’s heart inside out, and though Jessilyn initially encourages her best friend to pursue him, she suddenly becomes burdened by their relationship. What brings about the change of heart, and how does she move past it? Have you ever been in her shoes? The sudden burden that comes about is when Jessilyn realizes that Gemma and Tal are going to be married and Gemma will not be there for her as she has in the past. She realizes their relationship will change and is uncomfortable with the uncertainty of the future.
5. For the first time in Jessilyn’s life, she’s turning to someone besides her father with her fears and worries: Luke. How has time and age begun to make Jessilyn turn to someone other than her father for security? Time allows trust to build and as a girl grows older the time clock begins to begin ticking toward the urge to nest and build a home and family.
6. Miss Cleta again defies tradition by receiving medical care from Tal Pritchett. Why is Gemma so concerned about her doing this, and what are the eventual repercussions of Miss Cleta’s decision? Gemma is concerned because she knows the Klan still lurk. She is fearful that Miss Cleta and Tal will suffer at their hands in repercussion to their decision to break tradition. Maybe she’s been programmed to think that blacks and whites shouldn’t cross the invisible line.
7. Like Miss Cleta’s choice to be treated by Tal, how does the trouble between Delmar and Malachi at the meeting place stir the pot of racial prejudice in Calloway?
8. A horrifying experience haunts Jessilyn’s dreams and saps her strength. But only one perpetrator behind the despicable act demonstrates true shame. What do you think is the cause of such depravity? How are we all susceptible to evil infiltrating our hearts, and what can we do to keep that from happening?
9. Jessilyn’s own heart is at risk when she allows bitterness and hate to fill it. What happens to make her see how lost she truly is? How does that moment change her life?
10. When Jessilyn discovers the darkness of her soul, she reaches out to the God she’s heard about all her life but never truly felt the need for. What’s the difference between believing in God and inviting him to be Lord of your life? Inviting God into your life means you are prepared to surrender your life to His will.
11. Mrs. Jarvis’s appearance at Cole Mundy’s funeral is a stunning portrayal of forgiveness and grace. How does that moment affect those present and how do you think it turned the tide for race relations in Calloway?
12. Jessilyn’s new life began the day she humbled herself before God. What changes do we see in her as Catching Moondrops comes to a close? She becomes more light hearted and develops a more trusting nature and she appears joyous. Have you experienced a similar moment in your life? And if so, how did that moment affect your future? I was seventeen years old when I turned my life over to God. I remember the feeling of freedom and near weightlessness came over me as well as the unending joy that seem to flow through my veins.
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