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

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines trauma as “a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury.” How can trauma shape a person’s life? For example, if a person is traumatized by a situation, how can this affect the person’s memory? Explain.

Teaching Suggestion: This Short Answer question invites students to consider the theme The Lasting Effects Of Trauma and Memories. Giff’s novel centers on Hollis’s traumatic past as a part of the foster care system and the effects that history has on her present choices. This is particularly apparent when Hollis meets a family that accepts her with love; however, her insecurities related to the trauma she experienced growing up are one of the primary reasons she decides to run away. Hollis’s narrative points to the fact that trauma experienced during adolescence perseveres as a child matures.

• The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine shares a pamphlet of “How Trauma Impacts Four Different Types of Memory.