Reading Group Guide

1. Why do you think the author chose to tell this story through poetry instead of prose?
2. The book follows Rosa from childhood through adulthood.
How have the wars changed her?
3. Lieutenant Death says that his father corrected him when he called Rosa a witch-girl because if he adds girl, "she'll think she's human, like us." How do you think this statement affected
Lieutenant Death's opinion of Rosa?
4. We never learn Lieutenant Death's real name. All of the other characters who speak have their real name as the character heading. How does this affect your opinion of the character?
5. Rosa heals Lieutenant Death after he falls from a tree. Why does she help him? Why, even after her help, does he still want to kill her?
6. Find a passage in the book that you enjoyed or felt a connection with. Discuss what it was about that passage that made it memorable for you.
7. Who was your favorite character and why?
8. What does the Surrender Tree represent to Rosa?
9. Why does Rosa help anyone, no matter what side they fight for, free of charge?
10. Silvia ends the book saying "Peace is not the paradise I
imagined, but it is a chance to dream." What do you think she means by this? What do you think the rest of her life will be like? 11. Take an experience from your own life and write a few lines of poetry to tell the story.