How would you vote in 2096?

1. Are Regulars truly human?
2. Grace shows more curiosity than her peers. What do you think drives this? Are Regulars less curious, or is it just a unique personality trait?
3. What could Tom’s family and way of life give Grace that the Center never could? Is there anything from the Center that Tom’s family cannot give her? What practice from the Regulars would you want to bring into our world?
4. What is a good citizen? What do you trade off to be a good citizen?
5. Who should decide what kind of life is worth creating? Who gets to decide the terms on which civilization shapes itself?
6. How does Grace’s sense of her individualism and the greater good develop throughout the book? How does her identity compare to Mel’s, Tom’s, Adam’s, or Rita’s? When society claims to act for the greater good, what happens to individual freedom?
7. How do Grace’s experiences in NBD1 influence her world view? How does her upbringing at the Center shape her?
8. How does Birthright disrupt or reinforce the concept of family?
9. Do you agree with Tom that science is limited by today’s state of knowledge, or should science get the final word? Why does Grace change her mind about having the baby? What forms the glue of Tom and Grace’s relationship?
10. What are your thoughts on Natural-Borns wanting to end natural birth?
11. How would you envision the first Regular to succeed the Minister? How would they be different?
12. How could Adam and the Minister come to differ so greatly in their visions for how to design a ‘flawless society’?
13. How would you vote in the 2096 referendum? What would you never compromise on, and what would make you question your assumptions?

This reading group guide was created by Rosalee Edwards.