“Suzy
and
Leah”
By: Jane Yolen
1. HOW DO SUZY AND
LEAH LOOK THE SAME?
•About
the same age
•Hair in pigtails/braids
•Carrying their possessions
HOW DO THESE GIRLS
LOOK DIFFERENT?
SUZY
 Smiling
 Neatly
dressed
 New
clothes
LEAH
 Worried
 Old clothes
 Clutching
her
possessions
with
concern
2. WHAT DID SUZY OFFER
TO THE CHILDREN
THROUGH THE FENCE?
•‘Sweets’
•Oranges
[Candy]
3. WHAT PURPOSE
MIGHT THE AUTHOR
HAVE HAD FOR
INCLUDING THE DETAILS
ABOUT SUZY LAUGHING
AT THE REFUGEES AND
WONDERING IF THEY
HAVE ‘BUGS’?
 Show
how
insensitive some
Americans could
be to the
refugees
 Show
how the
refugees were
treated as
objects
4. WHAT MIGHT THE
AUTHOR’S PURPOSE
BE FOR HAVING
LEAH ADDRESS HER
DIARY ENTRIES TO
HER MOTHER?
 Remind
the
reader that
Leah is an
orphan
 Sympathize
with Leah’s
feelings of
fear and
loneliness
5. WHAT PURPOSE
MIGHT THE AUTHOR
HAVE FOR INCLUDING
DETAILS ABOUT LEAH’S
LIFE BEFORE THE WAR?
 Wanted
the
reader to see
Leah as a
‘real’ person
 Wanted
the
reader to
realize how
much Leah’s
life had
changed
6. EXPLAIN WHAT LEAH
MEANS BY “THERE IS
BARBED WIRE STILL
BETWEEN US AND THE
WORLD”?
 She
feels isolated and
disconnected from the world
because she lost her mother,
her home, and her former life.
7. WHAT DOES ‘BARBED
WIRE’ SYMBOLIZE IN THIS
STORY AND WHY DOES
LEAH SAY THIS?
 Symbolizes
the barrier Leah
feels between herself and the
world around her
8. DOES THE GIRL IN THE
PICTURE ON PAGE 116 OF
YOUR BOOK LOOK LIKE
ONE OF THE CHILDREN
SUZY DESCRIBES?
EXPLAIN.
 Yes.
 She
looks worried and a bit
lost.
 Her clothes could be the
hand-me-downs from the
Americans that Suzy describes
9. WHAT HAPPENED
TO LEAH’S MOTHER?
 She
was killed in a German
Concentration Camp
10. HOW DID LEAH’S
FORMER HOME ON THE
FARM CHANGE DURING
THE WAR?
 The
sky above Leah’s farm
changed from blue [like her
mother’s eyes] to dark and
smokey
 Many homes were ramsacked
and burned during the
Holocaust
11. HOW DID THIS
CHANGE IN SETTING
REFLECT WHAT
HAPPENED TO LEAH
DURING THE WAR?
 Leah’s
home changed from
being a safe place [like her
mother’s eyes] to a dark and
dangerous place
12. LIST SOME OF THE
DETAILS THAT SUZY
FOCUSES ON ABOUT
LEAH.
 One
without a name tag
 One in her pinafore
 “prickly as a porcupine”
 “Miss Porcupine”
13. SUM UP SUZY’S
FEELINGS TOWARD
LEAH AT THIS POINT.
 Suzy
dislikes Leah.
 She thinks Leah is overly
sensitive and rude.
14. WHAT PURPOSE
MIGHT THE AUTHOR
HAVE FOR DESCRIBING
LEAH FROM SUZY’S
POINT OF VIEW?
 See
Leah from the ‘outside’, or
to see the refugee children
the way American children
saw them
 Know how deeply the
refugees were misunderstood
15. WHAT DO YOU
KNOW ABOUT A
REFUGEE CAMP?
 Eat
meals in a group
 Food not high quality
 Refugees might not be very
clean or well-dressed
 Refugees do not have many
possessions
16. WHAT DO SUZY
AND LEAH THINK OF
EACH OTHER?
 Girls
dislike each other.
 Suzy thinks Leah is too
serious and sensitive
 Leah thinks Suzy is too silly
and carefree
17. WHAT TRUTH DOES
THE AUTHOR REVEAL
ABOUT LEAH AND AVI?
 Leah
is hiding food for Avi
because he is growing and
hungry.
18. WHAT HISTORICAL
INFORMATION DOES THE
AUTHOR SUGGEST AT
THE SAME TIME?
 Leah
knows the food is not
‘kosher’ but hides this fact to
make sure Avi eats
 Jewish children went hungry
and broke their religious laws
because of their hunger
19. WHAT WOULD BE
THE BEST WAY FOR
SUZY TO UNDERSTAND
THE TRUTH OF LEAH’S
AND AVI’S EXPERIENCE?
 The
Jewish children could tell
her about their experiences.
20. HOW DOES BEING
IN SUZY’S HOME
AFFECT LEAH?
 Meeting
Suzy’s mother
reminds Leah of the last time
she saw her own mother and
brother at the concentration
camp.
 What is supposed to be
pleasant for Leah is painful.
21. WHAT DOES LEAH
DO WITH HER FOOD
AT LUNCHTIME?
 She
puts the food in a napkin
to take to Avi.
22. HOW DOES LEAH
REACT TO THE
SETTING?
 She
decides to ‘steel her
heart’ against Suzy’s mom
because she is afraid that if
she loves her, she will forget
her own mother.
IS HER REACTION
LOGICAL OR
UNDERSTANDABLE?
 Makes
sense considering the
pain and suffering that Leah
has gone through
23. SUMMARIZE THE
PASSAGE ABOVE IN
ONE SENTENCE.
 In
the diary entry dated
October 11, 1944, Suzy
describes how she feels when
Leah has to go to the hospital.
24. INFER WHY LEAH
MIGHT NOT HAVE TOLD
ANYONE ABOUT HER
PAIN IMMEDIATELY.
24. INFER WHY LEAH
MIGHT NOT HAVE TOLD
ANYONE ABOUT HER
PAIN IMMEDIATELY.
 Leah
does not trust people in
her new surroundings
 She may be terrified of being
taken away from the group
because when people were
separated by the Nazis, they
disappeared.
25. WHAT FACTS
ABOUT WWII DOES
THE AUTHOR TEACH?
 During WWII
the Nazis
imprisoned and killed men,
women, and children in
concentration camps.
 During this time, Jewish
people had to wear yellow
stars on their clothes.
26. WHY DO YOU THINK
THE AUTHOR CHOSE TO
STATE THESE FACTS SO
PLAINLY?
 To
be sure that the readers
understand the horror of
what happened to millions of
Jews
27. WHAT PURPOSE DOES
THE AUTHOR ACHIEVE BY
TELLING A STORY
THROUGH YOUNG
CHARACTERS?
 Help
the author show how
the war destroyed people’s
innocence
 Allows the author to end he
story on a hopeful note, as
Leah faces a new—and
possibly—happy life
Note:
Social & Political events during
the time of the story drive the
main characters’ actions and
explain their different
perspectives.
Leah’s Diary Entry Sept. 14
 Destruction
of Leah’s home
and death of her mom = Leah
is sad and fearful
 Suffering shapes Leah’s
character
Suzy’s Diary Entry Sept. 14
 Ignorance
of other’s suffering
= Suzy’s silly and carefree
 Innocence shapes Suzy’s
character
The End.