Refugee

These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before or after reading the novel.

Personal Response Prompt

Imagine that, in the middle of the night, your parents wake you up to tell you that all of you need to leave the country immediately. You have just one minute to pack only your most important belongings that you can wear and carry on your back. What three items would you bring and/or wear? Why? Which would be the most important for your survival?

Teaching Suggestion: Encourage students to consider their most valuable items. While some students might highlight their monetarily valuable items (e.g., money, credit cards, jewelry) or sentimentally valuable items (e.g., photographs), remind students that value is also found in the practicality of the item, especially as it will help them survive on their journey. For example, one of the most important items, but sometimes forgotten, is shoes, as well as identification cards, jackets for cold weather, and sources of food/water. 

• This article from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) highlights several refugees’ stories on which items they chose to bring with them on their journeys.

Post-Reading Analysis

The novel’s three protagonists begin the story in their respective homes (e.g., Josef in Germany, Isabel in Cuba, and Mahmoud in Syria). As the novel progresses, the chapter titles include how many days from home their journeys take them (e.g., Ch.4 “Josef: Berlin, Germany—1939, 1 day from home”). In the last chapter of Isabel and Mahmoud’s journeys, both of the chapter subtitles include the word “home,” even though the characters are now located in a new country. Why do you think the author chose to use the word “home” here? What do you think this says about the author’s concept of home? In your opinion, what does “home” mean? Is it a fixed place or can it change? Why or why not?

Teaching Suggestion: As one of the central themes of the novel, home is not a place where the characters are born, but rather where they eventually live and start their new lives. Encourage students to think outside the box about the idea of home to include family and friends. This analysis could work well as a discussion.