Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What do you know about World War II?

Teaching Suggestion: Encourage students to think about the Second World War and what they might have learned about the Holocaust or about major battles during the war, such as the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Doerr’s novel focuses on both sides of the war and on individuals not always discussed in history texts.

• Scholastic has put together some material on teaching about World War II.
• PBS compiled learning modules about World War II.

2. What is a Pulitzer Prize? What does it mean that a book has won a Pulitzer? Can you think of other books that have won this award?

Teaching Suggestion: Encouraging students to think about what awards books have won can give them an understanding of the significance of literary texts.

• The Pulitzer Prize organization describes its history.
• This page includes a list of past winners.