Book Discussion Guide

Feed by M.T. Anderson

Feed

Feed is an award-winning, futuristic story about the strange way thoughts, emotions, and actions of people who are controlled by “the feed.” This is a special implant placed in people’s brains that gives them direct access to the Internet through their minds. It controls every aspect of their lives, taking away their ability to think for themselves. This book will intrigue your family because it touches on many important topics such as technology, love, government, and greed. Your family may also like this book because it’s also a love story between Titus, the main character, and Violet, a girl who knows what it is like to live off “the feed.” The plot and character development is complex and challenging, so it might be best for your seventh grade child to read it independently and then discuss later. Feed is best suited for seventh graders as there are some mature themes like drinking, drug use, sexuality, as well as use of explicit language. This book puts a scary twist on where society could be headed and will get your family wondering about the future.

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Questions To Talk About
While Reading

Vocabulary

It's important to make sure that your child has an understanding of key words in the book. Talking about words while reading is a great way for your child to learn new words.

In this book, you might talk about these words:

  • lesions (pg. 11)
  • chiseled (pg. 21)
  • calamity (pg. 39)
  • propoganda (pg. 111)
  • idiom (pg. 119)
  • lamination (pg. 280)
  • rioting (pg. 296)

You might use a question like:

In the book, lesions are a fashion statement. What does this mean and how do you feel about it?

Key Ideas and Themes

In addition to words, it's important to talk about key ideas and themes and how they develop over the course of the book.

Here are some examples to get you started:

  • 1

    What is “the feed?” What is the purpose of sending information directly to people’s brains instead of accessing it through a device like we do now?

  • 2

    What might the author be suggesting about the world these characters are living in? What are the similarities between their world and ours? Could this in any way reflect where we are headed in the future?

  • 3

    In this novel, there are many disturbing and almost scary things that take place. What were some of the parts of the story that bothered or scared you the most? Can you find some details and language the author uses to cause you to feel that way?

  • 4

    What are some of the odd slang words the teenagers use in this book? Choose three of these words and give each of these words your own definition. How does the way the characters use the words help you find definition?

  • 5

    Give a brief overview of the love story that takes place between Titus and Violet. How are these two characters different? What is the attraction between the two? What does Titus’s reaction to tragedy suggest about him?

  • 6

    Violet continuously tries to resist “the feed.” What does it mean to “fight the feed”? How might a person fight the feed in today’s world?

Extra Activities

  • 1

    In this book you see examples of “the feed” that streams through the characters minds. This includes images, links to websites, chat rooms, flashing banners, news stories, podcasts, advertisements, political information, etc. Create a “feed” of your own. What kind of streaming information would be sent directly to your brain in today’s world?

  • 2

    Violet makes a list of all the things that she wants to accomplish before she dies. Make a list of your own. Think about things you can do now, things you can do in the near future, and things you might plan to do in the future as an adult. After creating your list, look back and decide what the items on your list suggests about you as a person.