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 is a group home? Why might someone be sent to a group home? What is the difference between a group home and a juvenile detention facility?

Teaching Suggestion: With sensitivity to student experiences, consider discussing the question above once readers have had a chance to note some thoughts or complete initial investigation. We Were Here takes place in a group home after Miguel has been released from juvenile detention. The setting is central to the plot because it drives the question of why Miguel was arrested, which is not revealed until the end of the novel.

• This article describes what a group home is and why people are sent to group homes.
• This article describes what a juvenile detention facility is and what it does.

2. How can guilt be helpful, and how can it be harmful? What is social withdrawal? What is rumination? How are these behavioral patterns problematic for people experiencing depression?

Teaching Suggestion: With sensitivity to student experiences, investigation into these topics and discussing guilt and characteristics of depression may be helpful to understanding the novel.