Refugee Gatz Pre-Reading

“Josef listened, straining his ears in the dark. He wasn’t used to the sounds of this new flat, the smaller one he and his family had been forced to move into. They couldn’t afford their old place, not since the Nazis told Josef’s father he wasn’t allowed to practice law anymore because he was Jewish.” Based on this excerpt, how do you think Josef’s family feels about their new home?

• Bored

• Nervous

• Sad

• Worried

Choose the details that best show how Ruthie and Josef are feeling about the intruders.

• “Towering shadows burst into the room” (2).

• “He screamed even louder than his little sister, drowning her out” (2).

• “Then she wailed even harder and louder” (2).

• “Josef begged her” (2).

“The Brownshirt ignored Papa and nodded at the other men. Two of the Nazis yanked Josef’s father to his feet and dragged him toward the door.” Choose two words from this sentence that best show the violent way the Nazis treated Josef’s family.

• Yanked

• Dragged

• Ignored

• Nodded

On page 5, Alan Gratz writes, “Mama spent weeks going from one government office to another, trying to find out where her husband was and how to get him back.” Why did no one help her?

• She was Jewish.

• The offices were closed.

• She didn’t have the right paperwork.

• They did not have the Internet to search for him.

In Chapter 2, the author uses a description of a cat to show what life was like in Cuba. Choose the details from the text that best describes what life was like in Cuba.

• “The cat was hungry, just like everyone else in Cuba, and its belly quickly won out over its fear” (7).

• “The kitten wasn’t too different from her, Isabel realized: thin, hungry, and in need of a bath” (7).

• “Isabel wished she had something else to give it, but this food was already more than she could spare” (7).

• “It took only two tries to get the scrawny calico kitten to come out from under the pink cinderblock house and eat from Isabel Fernandez’s hand” (7).

The text says, “If you were caught trying to leave for el norte by boat, Castro would throw you in jail” (10). Which detail best shows why people were willing to risk it in order to escape?

• “All the cows and pigs and sheep had been eaten” (10).

• “Without Russia’s gas, they couldn’t run the tractors to change the fields over to food, and without the extra food, the Cuban people began to starve” (10).

• “People broke into the Havana Zoo” (10).

• “Most of the farms in Cuba grew only sugarcane” (10).

“If you really looked at Mahmoud, got a glimpse under the hoodie he kept pulled down over his face…” (12). This detail shows that Mahmoud…

• did everything he could to be invisible.

• was cold and like to wear a hoodie to stay warm.

• used the hoodie as a shield to protect himself.

• liked wearing a hoodie so he could listen to music.

Choose the detail that best shows the impact of the war on Mahmoud’s brother, Waleed.

• “Waleed was ten years old and two grades below Mahmoud in school” (13).

• “His teeth looked too big for his head, and when he smiled he looked like a cartoon squirrel” (13).

• “Mahmoud couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his brother laugh” (13).

• “The war had made Mahmoud nervous” (13).

Which detail from the text best shows why Mahmoud wants to be invisible?

• “If the bullies didn’t notice you, they didn’t hit you” (17).

• “Khalid never answered another question in class, not even when the teacher called on him directly” (17).

• “From that day forward, Mahmoud and Khalid were marked” (17).

• “It was nothing they ever said to each other” (17).

Reread this excerpt from page 17 in Chapter 3:

Mahmoud watched as these two boys attacked the boy with the bread, a boy he didn’t even know. He felt stirrings of indignation, of anger, of sympathy. His breath came quick and deep, and his hands clenched into fists. “I should do something,” he whispered. But he knew better.

Head down, hoodie up, eyes on the ground. The trick was to be invisible. Blend in. Disappear.

Which sentence from the text that supports this claim: Mahmoud struggled with not helping the boy in the alley.

• Mahmoud watched as these two boys attacked the boy with the bread, a boy he didn’t even know.

• He felt stirrings of indignation, of anger, of sympathy.

• His breath came quick and deep, and his hands clenched into fists.

• “I should do something,” he whispered.

• But he knew better.