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. Who were the Little Rock Nine? Why is their story a significant moment in American history?

Teaching Suggestion: This question opens the discussion for necessary historical context, which will help students better understand the novel’s setting in place and time. It may be beneficial to tap students’ prior knowledge by referencing history or social studies classes or other works of fiction, nonfiction, or TV and cinema that they might have experience with.

• “The Little Rock Nine” via the National Museum for African American History and Culture gives a brief overview of the real-life events that unfold toward the novel’s end.
• Two articles from History.com describe the significance of the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision and the Little Rock Nine.
• “60 Years On, A Look Back at the Little Rock Nine” is a 3-minute video from the Associated Press featuring an interview with Ernest Green, one of the nine students.

2. What was the music of the late 1950s and early 1960s, and why was it significant to American pop culture?