A Snake Falls to Earth Discussion Questions written by the Hobbit on August 18th, 2022. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before You Read
Book: A Snake Falls to Earth
Author: Darcie Little Badger
Genre: Fantasy, Indigenous stories, magical realism
Length: 352 pages
Age suggested: 12 and up
Release Date: November 23rd, 2021
Themes: Family, found family,
Quick A Snake Falls to Earth Summary
The story is structured on traditional Lipan Apache storytelling and has two separate stories that eventually intertwine. The first is about Nina, a Lippin girl living in our world in the near future. The other is the world of spirits and monsters. This is where Oli, the cottonmouth, is making a new home. Events will draw the two of them together.
A Snake Falls to Earth Review: (Minor Spoilers)
In the near future our world is experiencing more effects of climate change. Nina has been brought app listening to old Lipan Apache stories, and she believes that there is more than just this world. Her Grandma lives close to the Texas coast. Her father, who has a bookstore that sometimes has mysterious visitors, would like to move her….but Grandma becomes ill if she goes too far away. Her mother is an oceanographer who is often away. Now a massive hurricane is headed their way.
Oli lives in the world of spirits and monsters. He is a cottonmouth kid, able to assume a relatively human shape besides his snake shape. Like all cottonmouths, he is forced to leave home, but has found new friends around the bottomless lake. When one of these friends becomes ill, his path and Nina‘s path come together.
–Why Read A Snake Falls to Earth–
A Snake Falls to Earth is an imaginative work that will keep readers engaged until the final page. It bring to life Lipan Apache storytelling for those of us who were not familiar with it, and draws you into a different view of nature. It has a great message about extinction. Living in Texas, a cottonmouth character is not naturally on my like list, but I loved Oli. Any story that has you rooting for a cottonmouth as a hero has done a good job of character building.
Continue reading for our A Snake Falls to Earth Discussion Questions
Favorite A Snake Falls to Earth Quotes
“They say the path to anywhere-you-please is not concerned with the rules of space or time. It slithers snakelike through forests-mostly in the world of spirits and monsters, but occasionally on Earth”
“The land under and around the three-bedroom house had been their family’s homeland for generations. Before Texas became a state, Nina’s ancestors had lived there, and they didn’t ever leave. Not really. When Federal Indian Removal became the law of the land, and bounties were put on Apache heads, her people resisted. In many ways, they still did.”
“All I could do was make the most of the time I had and hope that my actions mattered.”
“She loved the smell of the room: old paper and suggestions of the books’ former homes. Candles, perfume, spices, smoke, air freshener, coffee. As if each used book carried the ghost of whatever library or drawing room it had come from.”
A Snake Falls to Earth Discussion Questions
- Which of the spirit animals was your favorite? Why?
- What do you think about climate change?
- Do we have a responsibility to protect animals and the earth? (note – this is a belief shared by many cultures and faiths)
- Have we overall done a good job or a bad job? Where are some places you see us doing a good job?
- What do we learn by reading stories from other cultures?
Thanks for reading our A Snake Falls to Earth Discussion Questions and Review. Check out our related posts:
–Firekeepers Daughter by Angeline Boulley
–A Song of Wraith and Ruins by Roseanne A. Brown
–Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
Down The Hobbit Hole Blog and this A Snake Falls to Earth Discussion Questions use affiliate links. We only link products we think you’ll like and you are never charged extra for them. As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. All images used in this post were either original designs from Canva or used from media kits We also use cookies to gather analytics and present advertisements. This allows us to keep writing discussion questions and telling ridiculous dad jokes. Find our other reviews with discussion questions here. Our posts about faith here. And our posts about family stuff here.