If I Should Die Before I Wake by Han Nolan « « HMH Book C... http://hmhtrade.com/bookclubs/discussion-guides/if-i-should-di...

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If I Should Die Before I Wake by Han Nolan

11 March 2009, 12:00 am

If I Should Die Before I Wake

Han Nolan

ISBN:9780152046798

About the book:

Hilary hates Jews. As part of a neo-Nazi gang in her town,

she’s finally found a sense of belonging. But when she”s
critically injured in an accident, everything changes.
Somehow, in her mind, she has become Chana, a Jewish girl
fighting for her own life in the ghettos and concentration
camps of World War II.
Han Nolan offers powerful insight into one young woman’s
survival through the Holocaust and another’s journey out of
hatred and self-loathing.
Reader’s guide and an interview with the author included.

About the author:

HAN NOLAN has won many awards for her teen fiction, including the National Book
Award for Dancing on the Edge. She lives in New England.

Discussion Questions:

Q. Why is Hilary angry and full of hate? What are her reasons for turning her anger
on her mother and on Jews?

Q. Why does Hilary feel like she fits in with the Great Warriors?

Q. Bubbe tells Chana that she must remember everything. Why is this important?

Q. How can everyone share the same past and the same future yet see it differently?

1 of 2 10/22/12 12:24 PM
If I Should Die Before I Wake by Han Nolan « « HMH Book C... http://hmhtrade.com/bookclubs/discussion-guides/if-i-should-di...

How does her experience with Chana change the way Hilary sees things?

Q. Why did caring for Matel in Auschwitz save Chana? How might taking action, as
Chana or Jakub or Bubbe did, affect one’s chances of survival? What are the risks of
taking action?

Q. Hilary wonders if she’s wicked. How would you answer her?

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