What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day

Ava leaves both her home and family when she moves away from Idlewild in 1984. Why does this decision feel empowering and freeing at the time? What has changed for Ava since? How does she define home and family, and how do these definitions change over the course of her time back in Idlewild?

How does Ava respond when she tests HIV positive? What actions does she take and how do these actions impact her circumstances? In what ways do her social and cultural contexts contribute to her experience of living with HIV? How and why does she face adversity as a result of her diagnosis?

Compare and contrast Ava’s sex life before and after she tests HIV positive. How and why does Ava see sex as empowering in the past? Why does she regard sex differently in the present? How does her altered sex life impact her emotionally and psychologically?

Ava derives a sense of community from her hair salon while she’s living in Atlanta. How does her sense of community change after she sells the salon and returns to Idlewild? What role do Joyce Mitchell, Eddie Jefferson, and the Sewing Circus play in Ava’s evolving community spheres?

Describe Ava and Eddie’s former relationship. In what ways does their relationship evolve in the narrative present? How has Eddie changed? How has Ava changed? In what ways does their newfound romantic connection transform Ava’s understanding of love and intimacy?

Who is Imani to Ava and her family? How does Ava regard her when she first comes to live with her and Joyce? How do her feelings for Imani change over time, and why? How does Ava bond with Imani, and how does their connection contribute to Ava’s overall growth?

Characters including Reverend Jonathan and Gerry Anderson, Tyrone, Frank, and Mattie create narrative conflict. Describe the ways in which these secondary and minor characters add tension to the primary characters’ lives. How do they complicate Ava’s, Joyce’s, and Eddie’s sense of peace and order? How do their narratives interact with the theme of the Power of Community and Family Bonds?

The Sewing Circus changes after Joyce becomes its leader. What changes does the group undergo, and why? What do Joyce and Ava do to ensure these changes are positive? What does investing in the Sewing Circus give to each of the sisters?