Miss hazel & the rosa parks league discussion questions

On Thursday, July 15 from 7-8 p.m., the NAMI Ramsey Book Club will be discussing the book Miss Hazel and the Rosa Parks League by Jonathan Odell. The discussion will be led by Kay King, Community Educator at NAMI Minnesota. 

Here are some discussion questions to consider prior to the meeting. You can download them here. Learn more and register at our Book Club page.

1. What is the author’s academic/occupational background? How might that have influenced one of the themes of this book: mental illness?
2. A common misconception about mental illness is that people who live with a mental illness can “snap out of it” or “pull themselves up by their own bootstraps" (to get better).  Without mental health education, the public sometimes views a person living with mental illness as lazy, oppositional or weak. Perhaps, they think that the person didn’t pray enough or that they can stop their depression, anxiety symptoms or drinking through positive thinking or happy thoughts.  These viewpoints are still held today by some. Those beliefs were also held in the era in which the book is set. 
   1. Floyd (Hazel’s husband) was the poster child for the power of positive thinking. What role did his philosophy play in Hazel and Floyd courtship/early marriage? Contrast that with its effect later in their marriage after the death of their son?
   2. This passage is from the end of Chapter 27. Floyd mused “If only Hazel got it. When you can control your thoughts, you control your emotions. No need for hospitals and pills and such. But no, some people refused to put out the mental courage it took.”
3. We don’t know what causes mental illness. We know environment, genetics, biology, brain chemistry, life experiences and trauma can be factors. The present theory is that some of us are born with a predisposition and something puts it into motion (a second hit). That trigger could be something like trauma, poverty, deaths in the family, war, losses, other illnesses, birth of a child, lack of sunlight, major long and short-term life stresses, etc.
   1. Hazel was diagnosed with a mental illness and hospitalized. What life experiences did Hazel experience leading up to her acute symptoms and then hospitalization?
   2. What is a co-occurring disorder?
4. Mental illnesses have an early onset. Fifty percent of people who will experience signs and symptoms of a mental illness in their life time, will experience them by age 14. That figure rises to 75% by age 24. Anxiety disorders are the most common of the mental illnesses. The average age of onset for anxiety disorders is 11.
   1. There are multiple references to Hazel’s anxiety. Can you share some of the passages?
5. What is it like to be a family member of a person who lives with a mental illness?  How did his mother’s illnesses affect Johnny?  How did Hazel’s illnesses affect Floyd (her husband)?
6. Hope plays a large part in a person’s recovery from mental illness. At the end of Chapter 32, Miss Pearl talks to Hazel about “dignity.” That conversation causes Hazel to say, “It was dignity! Not silliness. Not stupidity. Not worthless and ugly and helpless and hopeless and crazy and bad, bad, bad.” How did Miss Pearl’s encouragement and reframing change things for Hazel?  
7. There are cultural differences in how people from different backgrounds view mental illness. The Hmong culture views mental illness differently than the Somali culture. The Black culture views mental illness differently than white Americans descended from western European culture.
   1. After Johnny expressed anxiety about going to school, Vida wondered, “How could a boy get lost in his own house?"  Vida also remarked, “What kind of mother would let that happen (Johnny lost as a babe in the woods). Vida answered herself “a white one.” What is Vida’s view of mental illness?  
8. Having purpose (paid job, volunteer work, raising children, going to school) is an evidenced based practice for helping people managing a mental illness, recover.
   1. Hazel learned to drive early in their marriage and returned to driving during her recovery after hospitalization. What role did driving play for her and later how did it become part of a bigger purpose? 
9. Sometimes when people are experiencing the acute signs and symptoms of a mental illness they lack insight. During that period they might not be able to step back and perceive that they need medical help. Those that love them are frustrated that they can’t “make them get help.”  Our laws protect individual rights.
10. At the end of chapter 39 Floyd says, “Do you want me to send you back to Whitfield (the mental health hospital)? You know I could have you committed again.” What other communication/support strategies could be used instead?  
11. On average, it takes 10 years for a person experiencing mental illness signs and symptoms to get professional help. The primary reason for this delay in seeking help is stigma and discrimination.
    1. What are some examples/passages that demonstrate stigma and discrimination?
12. Here are thought starters for future classroom or book club discussions.  They are not directly related to mental illness but isn’t this book rich in items to discuss?
    1. Sheriff Billy Dean, Hazel and Hazel’s son Johnny, although quite different characters, share some characteristics in common.  Compare and contrast. Example: the items in the desk drawer and the trinkets buried under the porch.
    2. What are some of your favorite dialogue lines from the book?

Two of Kay’s favorite passages are what Billy Dean said about Delia, “The woman could have fought the whole Civil War and never reloaded twice.” 
A second favorite line is what Vida says to Hazel when Hazel suggests a friendship between the two of them, “That makes me your maid, not your friend. You get to pick me as a friend and I ain’t got no say about it.”

1. If you were to choose either Vida or Hazel as a mother, which would you choose?
2. What do you imagine will become of young Johnny (Hazel’s son)?

Kay King

Community Educator at NAMI Minnesota