If He Had Been with Me

How is If He Had Been with Me similar and different from other YA romances? Pick another YA romance and compare and contrast. Consider how each novel is similar and different in terms of themes, tone, point of view, voice, and their conclusions.

Why doesn’t Autumn reveal the full story of why she and Finny are no longer friends until halfway through the novel? How might that knowledge at the novel’s beginning have changed the reader’s understanding of Finny and Autumn’s relationship?

The novel is written from Autumn’s first-person point of view. How does this impact how the reader views certain situations? How might the story have been different if it were told from a different point of view or from several characters’ viewpoints?

Discuss fatherhood as depicted in this novel. How do different men and boys, such as Finn’s father and Dave, show different models of parenting? What substantiates Autumn’s conclusion that Finn would want her to have his child?

Sylvie starts a war against Autumn and her friends when she begins taking their table in the lunchroom. Why does Finny respond to Autumn the way he does when she confronts him? How does this connect to Finny asking Sylvie to be nice to Autumn? What does this suggest about Finny’s feelings for both girls?

Autumn’s mother is hospitalized for depression. What does Autumn’s response suggest about Autumn’s attitude toward her mother’s depression and her own? How does this foreshadow Autumn’s actions at the end of the novel?

Painter introduces the subject of teen pregnancy when Angie gets pregnant. What is the novel’s attitude toward teen pregnancy, as suggested by the novel’s ending and how Autumn and the friend group respond to Angie’s news? Use examples from the text to support your argument.

Compare and contrast Jamie and Finn. In what ways do they support or subvert Autumn’s dreams? How does their behavior suggest which one is truly right for Autumn? Is what Autumn and Finny do the same as what Jamie and Sasha did?