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1. How do you think your life would be different if you didn’t have arms? Find some examples of the way Aven solves problems that arise from not having arms. What kind of problems would you face in your life if you didn’t have arms? How would you solve them?

2. This book is told in first person, from Aven’s point-of-view. How do you think it would change if it were told in third person? What differences do you notice about the way Aven talks to the reader and the way she writes her blog posts?

3. When Aven first meets Connor, and he points out that she doesn’t have arms, she says, “Oh my gosh! I knew I was forgetting something today.” How does she use her sense of humor to her advantage?

4. Compare and contrast Aven and Connor. What traits do they share? What traits make them different? Do you think Connor is as comfortable having Tourette’s as Aven is not having arms? Find specific examples in the text to support your answer.

5. Think about the setting the author has chosen, Stagecoach Pass. How does it affect the way you read the story?

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Read Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus, answer all parts of the discussion questions using textual evidence and complete sentences, and submit to your ELA Teacher by the first week of school to earn up to 25 PBIS tickets per book, an extra 100 credit in any class, and free time.

Extra Incentive:  A movie and popcorn!  Plus a chance to win gift cards.

Background Photo by Adrianna Calvo from Pexels

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Aven Green gets that question a lot. She loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she’ll have to answer the question over and over again.

​Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined.

​It’s hard to solve a mystery, help a friend, and face your worst fears. But Aven’s about to discover she can do it all . . . even without arms.

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Dusti Bowling released her first middle grade novel in 2017 and hasn't stopped writing since.

Dusti's books have won the Reading the West Award, the Sakura Medal, a Golden Kite Honor, the Silver Nautilus Award, and have been nominated for a Cybil and over twenty state awards.

She currently lives in New River, Arizona with her husband, three daughters, a dozen tarantulas, a gopher snake named Burrito, a king snake name Death Noodle, and a cockatiel named Gandalf the Grey.

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Books are available at the Jones County Public Libraries & e-books are available at:

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Browse, borrow, and enjoy titles from the E-iNC Library digital collection.

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Insignificant Events in the Live of a Cactus

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Insignificant Events in the Live of a Cactus

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printable version

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Please follow the rubric to get full credit for the discussion questions.