Reading Group Resources
IDOLMAKER
Companion Videos
Book Club Private Tour with author Jonelle Patrick (6:51)
E xplore the strange world of Japanese music idols, and visit some of the real places in the book.
Let's Go To A Japanese Wedding (3:00)
Be a guest at a Shinto wedding and take a closer look at their kimonos, wigs, and other traditional clothing
What's It Like To Be A Japanese Music Idol? (5:24)
Sneak backstage and find out what it's like to be a pop star in Japan
Reading Group Discussion Questions
• What would you trade for your heart’s desire? Would you move to a different place? Would you leave your family? Would you hand over decisions about your future to someone who had the power to give you what you want? Was there ever anything you wanted so badly you’d have made a deal like the one Flame makes in Idolmaker?
• If you were Yumi at the beginning of the book, would you break your engagement to Ichiro before you had proof he was doing anything wrong, even if it meant your father would lose his job and your parents would lose the money they’d already paid for the wedding?
• In Idolmaker, Yumi’s decision to marry Ichiro helps her father’s career, and head Priest Yano gave up the work he loved in order to come back and take over the family shrine. Which of your own life choices have been influenced by needs other than your own (eg. your parents, your partner, your children, your friends)? If you could turn back time, would you still make the same decision?