Something in Between (36 page)

Questions for Discussion

1. Most Americans are immigrants or have descended from immigrants. What are the benefits and challenges of living in a country founded on immigration?
   
2. How does Jasmine view her parents' contributions to America before she learns the truth about their immigration status? Do her views change or develop? Point to examples from the book to illustrate your answer.
   
3. Jasmine's family faces suspicion and outright hostility because they are immigrants. Why do you think this occurs? Do witnesses have a responsibility to respond to this kind of behavior? Point to examples from the book to support your answer.
   
4. Jasmine's parents legally immigrated to the United States but were not able to renew their work visas. Why did they stay in the country? Could they have made any other choices?
   
5. Something in Between
   is a book about identity. How does Jasmine's view of herself change and develop over the course of the book? Does she consider herself to be more American or Filipina at times? When? Why? Point to examples in the book to support your answer.
   
6. What does Jasmine ultimately come to believe about herself as a person? What values matter most to her? Do her values change when she starts dating Royce? What values matter most to you? How do you think they may develop over time? Why?
   
7. Royce's view on immigration changes over the course of the book. How does starting a friendship and falling in love with Jasmine change his attitude and challenge his opinions? What does Jasmine show him about America that he didn't recognize before?
   
8. At a crucial turning point in the story, Jasmine reveals her immigration status to her friends despite feeling fear that her family could be deported. Why does she lean on her community? What are your communities that you go to for support? How might being an undocumented immigrant limit your support groups? How could those limitations affect a person's life in different ways?
   
9. Jasmine is proud to be a cheerleader and points out the constant false stereotyping of cheerleaders. Does Jasmine herself have personal prejudices? What prejudices do other characters display? How do the various characters develop and grow throughout the book? How do their experiences in the story shape their personal views?
   
10. Millie and Jasmine form a close bond during the story, but Jasmine and her family have to deal with racism on top of their immigrant status. How does Jasmine's friendship with Millie give her the courage to face her fears and stand up for herself and her family?
    
11. Kayla and Jasmine are best friends, but dealing with their respective family and dating problems cause them to grow apart for some time. Has this happened to you and a close friend before? What did you learn from the experience?
    
12. Royce's father, the House Speaker of the United States Congress, rallies against an important bill that would help Jasmine's family to start on a path to citizenship. How does she deal with dating a boy whose family's political values are different from her own? Is it possible for both sides to be able to listen to and get along with each other? Find examples from the book to support your points.
    
13. Are Jasmine and Royce responsible for bringing their families together? If not, why? If so, what can they do to continue to bring their families together?
    
14. Jasmine ultimately finds the power to believe in herself. Describe a time when you had to believe in yourself to succeed. What lessons did you learn about yourself?
    

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ISBN-13: 9781460395103

Something in Between

Copyright © 2016 by Melissa de la Cruz

Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to include the following previously published material:

Excerpt from
Choke
© 2001 by Chuck Palahniuk. Used by permission of Doubleday, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from
The Alchemist
© 1988 by Paulo Coelho. English translation © 1993 by Paulo Coelho and Alan R. Clarke. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

Excerpt from “The Third and Final Continent” from
Interpreter of Maladies
© 1999 by Jhumpa Lahiri. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from
Invisible Man
© 1947, 1948, 1952 by Ralph Ellison. Copyright renewed 1975, 1976, 1980 by Ralph Ellison. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel
© 2005 by Jonathan Safran Foer. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from
Breath, Eyes, Memory
© 1994 by Edwidge Danticat. Used by permission of Soho Press.

Excerpt from
The Mango Bride
© 2013 by Maria Victoria Soliven Blanco. Used by permission of New American Library, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

Excerpt from
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
© 1999 by J.K. Rowling.

Excerpt from
Wind, Sand and Stars
© 1939 by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. English translation © 1967 by Lewis Galantiere. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from “I, Too” from
The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes
by Langston Hughes, edited by Arnold Rampersad with David Roessel, Associate Editor. © 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from “America” from
Collected Poems 1947-1997
by Allen Ginsberg. © 2006 by the Allen Ginsberg Trust. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

Excerpt from “Two Kinds” from
The Joy Luck Club
© 1989 by Amy Tan. Used by permission of G.P. Putnam's Sons, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

Excerpt from
A Thousand Splendid Suns
by Khaled Hosseini. © 2007 by ATSS Publications, LLC. Used by permission of Riverhead, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

Excerpt from
Death Comes For The Archbishop
by Willa Cather, copyright © 1927, 1929 by Willa Cather, copyright renewed 1955, 1957 by The Executors of the Estate of Willa Cather. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

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