52 pages • 1-hour read
The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Explore the role of parents and parenting in Blum’s novel. Compare and contrast the ways Hoodie and Anna-Marie’s parents influence their lives. How do their relationships with their parents change over the course of the novel?
What impact does Blum’s integration of Hebrew and Yiddish words without translation have on the novel?
What tropes and narrative techniques does this novel share with other young-adult fiction you may have read? Cite specific examples from the text to support your argument.
Consider the character of Zippy, Hoodie’s older sister. How does she influence the events of the novel? How does her role in Hoodie’s life inform the Rosen family dynamic?
How does Hoodie’s relationship with Anna-Marie change over the course of the novel? How does their relationship reflect Hoodie’s changing relationship with his faith and community?
Hoodie attends an all-boys yeshiva but spends most of his time in the novel talking to two women: Anna-Marie and his sister Zippy. In what ways does Blum’s novel contrast gender dynamics within and outside of the Orthodox Jewish community?
The shooting described in the final chapters of the novel is based on a real-life antisemitic attack in Jersey City, New Jersey in 2019. What is the effect of mirroring the details of the real attack so closely in a fictional narrative?
Explore Hoodie’s friendship with Moshe Tzvi Gutman. How does their relationship aid them each in questioning, developing, and evolving their individual faiths?
The novel ends without a clear resolution to the relationship between Hoodie and Anna-Marie. How does this ending exemplify or subvert traditional coming-of-age tropes? Cite specific examples from the text to support your argument.
Throughout the novel, the characters question and confront each other on matters of faith. Consider the ways in which debate plays an essential role in Jewish culture and faith. In what ways does Hoodie’s own journey illustrate this quality?
Unlock all 52 pages of this Study Guide
Get in-depth, chapter-by-chapter summaries and analysis from our literary experts.
- Grasp challenging concepts with clear, comprehensive explanations
- Revisit key plot points and ideas without rereading the book
- Share impressive insights in classes and book clubs