Knowing tomorrow.
Choosing today.

The burden of knowing

Michael sees disasters before they happen and would rather be left alone. The opening chapter interrupts that wish with a vision of danger involving a school bus. Before he can understand the full implications of his ability, he faces the immediate question of what to do with what he knows.

1. Does knowing about an impending disaster create a duty to intervene? What would change if Michael were uncertain about what he had seen?
2. How does the opening balance Michael’s exhaustion with the urgency of the vision? What does that contrast tell you about the cost of his ability?
3. What is the difference between choosing to help and feeling that you have no choice? Could the same action carry both motives?

A reluctant rescuer

The premise places an extraordinary ability in the hands of someone who does not appear eager to become a hero. That tension invites readers to consider the distance between a public role and a private experience.

4. What makes a reluctant protagonist compelling? Does resistance to the role make a rescue feel more admirable, more complicated, or both?
5. How does Michael’s humor affect the opening? Consider whether it creates distance from the danger, reveals distress, or helps him move toward action.
6. What responsibilities should fall on someone with unusual abilities, and what responsibilities should remain shared by everyone else?

Friendship, trauma, and sacrifice

7. How might repeated exposure to possible disasters affect someone’s trust in ordinary life? What kinds of support could matter in that situation?
8. When discussing friendship in the novel, distinguish between helping a person and depending on their ability. Where do you see that distinction becoming important?
9. Is there a point at which a demand for sacrifice becomes unreasonable? Who should get to decide where that point lies?
10. After finishing, revisit your first impression of Michael. Which choice best explains how your view changed, or why it stayed the same?

One final thought experiment

Imagine learning one reliable fact about tomorrow. Would you want that knowledge if you could not choose what it concerned? Ask each reader to explain what they would hope to do with it, then compare those expectations with Michael’s experience.

For a group that has not finished the book, keep examples within the opening chapter. Once everyone has finished, return to these questions with specific scenes and leave room for readers who interpret the same decision differently.