Chapter 1 Observations:

• I've gathered that the narrater's use of "our" is referencing him and his childhood friends, who all seem to be young, adolescent boys that enjoy spying on the Lisbon sisters.

1. If they spend so much time watching the Lisbon sisters, how could they not tell that each sister is completely different, until they see the girls at the party?
2. Are there any other girls in town? What makes the Lisbon sisters so fascinating?
3. How does finding Cecilia in the tub effect Paul Baldino?

• If the Virgin Mary photograph Cecilia was holding in the tub only served as a religious purpose, she would have been holding Jesus instead. She's somehow connecting herself to the Virgin Mary

1. What is the significance of the Virgin Mary photo she's holding?
2. Why do the boys say they have a "photocopy" of the picture here? Where is here? Where are these boys writing or telling the story from?
3. Does the wedding dress Cecilia wears link back to the Virgin Mary in any way?

• Cecilia tells the psychiatrist that trying to kill herself in the tub was only a mistake

1. If it was a mistake, why make the same mistake twice and jump out of your house?
2. Why did it take a near tragedy to make the house change?
3. What were her thoughts before she jumped off the top of the house?

• The phrase "Cecilia was out of danger" is repeated more than once

1. Is the psychiatrist right? did she really not mean to kill herself?
2. If it was a cry for help, what help did she need, from who, and why??
3. Was the psychiatrist right by telling the parents to relax their household rules? And if the father didn't agree with his wife's strictness, why did he put up with it?

• The Lisbon's house is not what Peter Sissen described

1. Does the tidy and dry-looking place represent the Lisbon family?
2. Why is it not a "heavy atmosphere of feminine chaos"? 
3. Is there anything about the Lisbon's house that makes them stand out from the rest of the street?