“Ever since Pa hit him in the head with the two-by-four, Earl had lived with blinders on. Not real blinders, of course, because that would be foolish. It was his own brain that blinkered him.”

EARL HAHN is slow, the last one to catch on to things. Since the day his father hit him in the head with a 2x4 of loblolly pine, he’s struggled with a “thickness in his brain.” It takes him longer to make the connections others arrive at easily. When his father is prosecuted for the crime of incest, it feels like deliverance for Earl, his mother Lizzie Belle, and the entire Hahn family. Unfortunately, his father’s abhorrent actions are not done exacting a price. Everyone in the household will pay for their patriarch’s crimes – no one more than Earl.

So begins a powerful coming-of-age tale about a shy, damaged boy who must overcome unimaginable personal tragedy – both as its victim and its perpetrator. Raw, honest, and filled with heart, Earl, Honey recounts an extraordinary search for redemption amid the perilous world of the 1920s American South.

This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with DartFrog Books.

Earl, Honey

Earl, Honey Book Club Questions PDF