The Hurricane Code by James Aura poses situations, questions, and ideas that are startling, but really starting to happen now. Could hurricanes dominate Earth with soaring temperatures by 2099? Aura takes a careful look at the possible implicates of unchecked climate change. Refugees from the USA move north to escape pythons who are also on the move. Quantum computers, Artificial Intelligence, could technology save us or not? This is a Cli-fi story based on science. How might the future look for both ordinary people and the rich? I liked this book as I am interested in Climate Change. The book is partially set in Minnesota, where I live, also.
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This discussion guide includes 8 pages for a leader or everyone, depending on the setting of your book group or class.
James Aura wrote the questions for a different post I wrote about his book, and thinking it over I asked if I could expand the ideas to make a discussion guide. He agreed.
Of course, an understanding of Hurricane formation helps to understand a story about Hurricanes. This page has some diagrams to help. This page also has an image of a hinny. My father was from Arkansas and he talked about mules, maybe because of where he grew up, I’m not sure. Perhaps some people do not know much about this topic, and it is woven into the story, so there is a link to check if needed. There are entire books on the topic of mules and donkeys.
Artificial intelligence, governments run by A.I., designer genes, robots, and other scientific advances are woven through the story. Aura imagines a future unlike we might expect. What do readers or students in your group think about these possibilities? Are these topics being studied and worked on now?
Pythons moving north, and not only that but adapting to the cold to travel further, makes the characters not the only thing moving northward. I had a little trouble working on this page because of the snake photo! Pythons can stretch their skin and eat something several times their size. Quantum Computers were a little easier for me to imagine. What do your readers or students think about these topics?
When people in the book cannot be located, it is because they do not have chips implanted yet. Would you want to have a chip? What about for other people, what would you think about that? In a hurricane, would you then wish to have a chip if something did happen to you?
Often we are in book groups to keep our brains active. Some people also do crossword puzzles for the same reason, so I included a puzzle. There is also an answer key for busy leaders and teachers.
The Hurricane Code is the June discussion book for the ‘All About Books’ group on Goodreads, in case you’d like to join in. I did!
