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. Consider what you already know about the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Which militant group was behind the attacks? Why was the United States a target? What were some of the effects of the attack on US domestic and international policy?

Teaching Suggestion: This question orients students with the novel's setting: the US in a post-9/11 era. Led by the al-Qaeda militant group, with Osama bin Laden as the leader of the attacks, the September 11 terrorist attacks caused a fundamental change to domestic and international policy.

Specifically, the US passed the controversial Patriot Act, which focused on uncovering possible future terrorist attacks and terrorist cells and affiliations in the US. Additionally, the US’s invasion of countries in the Middle East was highly criticized by the international community and condemned by the United Nations Security Council, as many countries thought such attacks would tip the balance of power in the region.

Gratz’s novel is set in this context, as Darius and Kamran were influenced by the terrorist attacks and motivated to enlist in the US military.