“Deep inside, Felix knew something was wrong. A pinch had settled in his gut from the first moment he and his father stepped off the train in Sarajevo. It was the same feeling he’d had before his grandfather died last year.”

The novel’s opening lines are seen from the point of view of Felix, one of the five protagonists. His foreboding feeling foreshadows the upcoming war, which is further reinforced by the mention of his grandfather, evoking death and tragedy.

“Papa was the bravest man he knew, but what good was one person’s courage against a war as big as the entire world?”

Felix’s rhetorical question conveys his fear and anxiety about the upcoming conflict, and characterizes him as a fearful young boy at the beginning of the novel. This sets up the narrative’s theme of Finding One’s Courage, with the protagonists all eventually discovering ways to act courageously and selflessly.

“Felix lowered his head, ashamed of himself. His father could not know him at all, to believe he was capable of such courage.”

At the beginning of the novel, Felix is characterized—or perceives himself—as fearful and anxious. This foreshadows his character growth as he gradually learns to act bravely, leading to him earning a medal at the book’s end.