Josef
What was the inciting incident for Josef and his family having to leave their home?
The Nazis raid their home. His dad gets taken and released, but they have to leave Germany.
What was the inciting incident for Isabel and her family having to leave their home?
Her father is threatened with jail because of a riot he was in.
What was the inciting incident for Mahmoud and his family having to leave their home?
Their building gets hit with a missile.
Why does Josef slap his father?
He slapped his dad because he needed him to pass a medical inspection and not be sent back to Germany.
What does Isabel trade for gasoline?
How does Mahmoud save his mother, Hana, and himself when they are in the water? There are three things specifically that he does before the coast guard hauls him out of the water.
He finds a life jacket from a dead man, treads water and keeps them above water.
Why is Josef's mother asleep when his father jumps off the side of the boat?
She was given a sleeping pill.
What is Isabel's boat made of?
Metal advertisements, road signs, and oil drums
What doesn't Mahmoud's mother want to leave Greece?
She wants to keep searching for Hana.
Why doesn't Josef have a final chapter like the other two characters?
He had to make a choice. He decided to go to the concentration camp instead of his little sister.
Why can't the refugees from Cuba get off the boat in the Bahamas?
They would be deported.
Why is Turkey a bad situation for Mahmoud and his family?
There is no food, not many jobs, and they face violence and hardships.
What happened to Ruthie?
Ruthie is alive, married, and in her 70's at the end of the book living in Germany.
What grade is Isabel in when she starts school in Miami?
6th grade
How does Mahmoud save everyone in the detention center?
He leaves and people follow him.