Nightcrawling

What role do minor characters play in the novel? Consider the importance of characters such as Dee, Tony, Shauna, and Camila. What does Kiara learn from each of them?

Kiara sometimes explains her involvement in the police sex parties as something she has no choice but to participate in. What does she mean by this? To what extent does Kiara have agency and in what respects is she controlled by larger forces? Is there a point in the plot at which Kiara could have made a different choice?

The novel’s title—Nightcrawling—is a euphemism for sex work. Unpack the meaning and connotations of this phrase. How does it function metaphorically throughout the novel?

Nightcrawling is inspired by true events that took place involving the Oakland Police Department in 2016. What are the advantages and challenges of rooting a fictional story in true events?

Though Kiara is reluctant to comply with her mother’s requests to visit her throughout much of the novel, the two share a meaningful moment near the end of the novel when her mother encourages Kiara to, quite literally, vocalize her pain and frustration. Given this, make predictions about Mama’s future and her relationship with Kiara.

In the Author’s Note, Mottley writes, “Like many black girls, I was often told growing up to tend to and shield my brother, my dad, the black men around me: their safety, their bodies, their dreams. In this, I learned that my own safety, body, and dreams were secondary, that there was no one or nothing that could or would protect me.” What does Mottley mean by this? How is this notion manifested in the novel? What are the repercussions for challenging this hierarchy of safety, body, and dreams? Does Kiara challenge this mandate or comply with it?

At the end of the novel, Kiara and Alé engage in a physically intimate moment. It contrasts greatly with the descriptions of sex Kiara endures with men. In what ways are sex, power, and gender connected throughout the novel or complicated by one another?

Kiara uses the name “Kia Holt” instead of revealing her real name, Kiara Johnson, when she enters sex work. Similarly, she refers to the police officers at the “parties” by their badge number. Considering these and other examples, how do names and false identities function thematically?