How does Williams-Garcia use the setting of 1968 to express her other themes? What literary elements and devices does she use to make this setting come alive, to make the story more real, and to draw readers in?

Teaching Suggestion: This discussion will allow students to focus on textual details—the nuances of dialogue, description, and characterization that make this novel come alive.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English language learners and others, this class discussion can be used along with a graphic organizer to collect ideas and details from the text. The graphic organizer can then be used to populate evidence and support in answering Full Essay Assignment #3.