Some initial thoughts...

This novel is powerful because it can reach its readers on so many levels. One thing we found right off the bat was that we were making connections between the events in the text and our own lives. We hope you will make similar connections, and to get you started, we hope you'll consider responding to the following questions (feel free to respond to as many or as few as you'd like):

• Think about what defines you - your gender, your culture, your ethnicity, your religion, your age, your likes/dislikes, etc. If someone were to ask you to define yourself, how would you do so?
• Think of a life-altering event/time that has taken place in your life. How did this event/time affect you emotionally? How did it affect the way you live your life? Did your views change because of what you experienced? If so, how?
• The present is certainly a difficult time to be a young person, especially considering the state of our world (September 11, the war in Iraq, etc.). How do you feel about the things that are happening? Have these events/conditions affected the way you live your life? What is your outlook?