Summary
Thirteen-year-old Ehmet and his mother escape the shooting and meager supplies that is making life in Sarajevo miserable. They flee to the home of relatives in the country, but when this place also becomes unsafe, set out to walk through unknown territory to get to Ehmet's grandparents. The thirty-eight chapter book is a survival story chronicling the physical dangers and mental courage of a youth in a war-torn country.
Activities
Prereading Activity:
Find Sarajevo on the map of 1993 in the book. Find the border of Bosnia. What countries surround Bosnia?
Examine pictures of Sarajevo.
Read Chapter 1
- Activity: Ehmet’s mother says that Bosnian’s are Croat, Muslim, Jew, and Serb. Make a four column chart with one of these labels at the top of each column. As characters are introduced in the story, enter the character in the appropriate column. Start by entering Ehmet’s father, Ehmet’s mother, Milan, Darko.
- Read Chapter 2
- Discuss:
- Why does Ehmet take so few things with him?
- How do you think Ehmet’s father was able to find the guide near the airport to help them?
- How do you think the guide was able to find a driver to help them?
- Who do you think were the shadowy figures in the tunnel who were going into Sarajevo when its citizens were fleeing from the city?
- Why did Ehmet’s father think it was so important to stay in Sarajevo?
Prediction: Will life on the farm be different than what Ehmet experienced when visiting in other years?
Read Chapter 3
- Discuss: Compare Ehmet's experience on the farm now with his experience on previous visits:
List things that are the same.
List things that are different.
- Discuss: If groups in your neighborhood or city began fighting, how would you decide whether to leave your home or stay?
Prediction: What was the noise in the night that woke Ehmet?
Read Chapter 4
- Discuss: Luci might have saved Ehmet’s life. Explain.
Prediction: Can Ehmet and his mother get to the meeting place?
Read Chapter 5
- Activity: There are about 6-7 species of plane tree. The one found in southern Europe is Platanus orientalis. Describe this plane tree.
- Activity: What constellations can you locate? Find Leo, Little Bear, and the North Star on a star chart. What is another name for Little Bear? What is another name for North Star? For further study, try making Star Finder or a Sky Wheel.
Prediction: Why is Ehmet’s mother crying?
Read Chapter 6
- Activity: Start a list of the items that Ehmet picks up. As you continue to read, watch for how any of these is useful. Write the number of the chapter(s) where he uses an item, making a Found-and-Used chart.
- Activity: Learn more about potatoes.
Prediction: How long can Ehmet and his mother stay in the barn and where will they go?
Read Chapter 7
- Discuss: Ehmet agrees with the suggestion of his mother that they should go to Grandma and Grandad's. Why does he feel that he has to take the lead?
Prediction: How can Ehmet and his mother find their way in the dark through an area they don’t know well?
Read Chapter 8
- Discuss: How was Ehmet able to find his way in the dark through an area he doesn’t know well?
- Discuss: We aren’t told the final number of days that Ehmet thought it would take them. What do you think?
- Activity: Use Ehmet’s figure of the rate at which they can walk to calculate the trip from your home to the home of a relative of yours.
Prediction: Will Ehmet and his mother be safe in the shed?
Read Chapter 9
- Discuss: Why do you think that Ehmet dreamed of a desert and snakes?
Prediction: Will Ehmet be able to find another safe place for them to stay the next day?
Read Chapter 10
- Discuss: What does the author mean by the phrase "unsettled settlement"?
- Activity: Research whether other people use the plantain and mullein for medical purposes?
Prediction: What else will Ehmet do while his mother is sleeping?
Read Chapter 11
- Explain: "Ehmet avoided climbing aboard that slogging train for the moment."
- Three techniques used by authors are simile, metaphor and alliteration. Is the "planet" reference on page 62 a simile, metaphor or alliteration. Explain.
- Explain: "The sound crashed through the room and any illusions Ehmet had of being alone." Define illusion.
Prediction: Is this child the only person left in this village or will the child lead Ehmet to other villagers?
Read Chapter 12
- Activity: Add the items Ehmet picks up to the Found/Used chart you started in chapter six.
Prediction: Will the boy be able to help Ehmet?
Read Chapter 13
- Discuss: How did the old lady help Ehmet? How did Ali help Ehmet?
- Discuss: We’ve seen that Serbs were destroying the homes of Muslims and killing them. Why do you think the Serbs allowed Ali to run away?
Prediction: The title of chapter 14 is "Mines". What do you think is the significance of this title?
Read Chapter 14
- Activity: The author describes three kinds of mushrooms. Make a mushroom information chart with three columns. In the first column write the words: chanterelle; manita; shiltake. Research these mushrooms and match each description in the book with one of the names, writing the description in the second column. In the third column, write whether the muchroom is edible or poisonous. Add more mushroom varieties to your chart.
- Activity: Describe a landmine. Why are they called landmines?
Prediction: Willl the cave be a good shelter for the night?
Read Chapter 15
Prediction: Will they get to Ali’s cousins without further mishap?
Read Chapter 16
- Discuss: Explain the scientific principle of how Ehmet was able to cook the potato and mushroom stew.
Prediction: Will the people at the cave help them or capture them?
Read Chapter 17
- Activity: Reseach to find what the Quran is.
- Activity: Draw a picture of the procession as they are leaving the cave. Name those pictured below each figure.
Prediction: Will the soldiers take Ali, Ehmet and his mother to the home of Ali’s cousins?
Read Chapter 18
- Activity: Find what a German Mark is worth today compared to the American dollar. How does the currency of Bosnia compare with the dollar today? Why does Ehmet’s mother have German and American money rather than the currency of their country?
- Activity: Find out how Aida may have made her blackberry and elder tea.
Herbal Teas (Hint: do a "find" on the word "blackberry")
Herbal Teas (bottom of page)
- Activity: Has anyone in your family taken acetaminophen? Check other names for acetaminophen before you give your final answer.
Prediction: Will Ehmet’s mother get better with Aida's care?
Read Chapters 19 and 20
- Activity: Find out more about pneumonia.
- Discuss: What are the pros and cons of Ehmet staying with Ahmed and Aida? Would you have advised him to leave?
Prediction: Will Ehmet be able to find his way through this part of the country?
Read Chapter 21
- Explain: "Fear of daytime encounters was trounced by pain."
- Activity: Find the border on the map where you think Ehmet might be crossing.
Prediction: Is the fisherman friend or foe?
Read Chapter 22
- Explain the author’s use of words in the following, "...the flamingo, rose, and red streakings of the sky had given way to dark, punctuated by the moon and first stars."
- Discuss: Why do you think that Jakob is so accepting of Ehmet?
Prediction: How will Jakob and Danica help Ehmet?
Read Chapter 23
- Discuss: In about what year did Jakob and Danica meet at the university? How old do you think Jakob is?
- Activity: Find Zageb on the map.
- Discuss: Why does Jakob tell Ehmet about his life?
Prediction: How long will Enmet stay with Jakob and Danica?
Read Chapter 24
- Activity: Create a flyer "How to make a Chicken Machine" with directions and a diagram.
Prediction: Will Ehmet get to his grandparents in a couple of hours on the bus?
Read Chapters 25 and 26
- Discuss: Why is the man in the truck there?
- Discuss: What do you think would have happened to Ehmet if the truck hadn’t arrived when it did?
Prediction: Will Ehmet have to stay in the camp?
Read Chapters 27, 28 and 29
- Discuss: What is a refugee?
- Discuss: Describe life in the refugee camp. How does a refugee camp differ from a prison camp? How is a refugee camp like a prison camp?
Prediction: Can Ehmet find a way to make his stay in the camp a short one?
Read Chapters 30 and 31
- Discuss: Why do you think the office staff is so insistent on not releasing a juvenile to anyone who isn’t family?
- Activity: Define "limbo". Describe a time when you were in limbo.
Prediction: Will Ehmet try to get out of the truck without being seen and/or can he?
Read Chapter 32
- Discuss: Were you surprised that Ehmet decided not to go on to his grandparents? Why or why not?
Prediction: Will Ehmet have any further trouble getting to the Children’s Village?
Read Chapter 33
- Discuss: If farm families left this area because they couldn’t make a living, how do children in a Children’s Village manage to live here?
Prediction: Will the Children’s Village be the haven Ehmet is seeking?
Read Chapter 34
- Activity: Find out more about Mary Cassatt?
- Discuss: Explain why Ehmet’s comment "You're part of the modern painting school" is a play on words.
Finish reading the book.
- Activity: Read a student report of a school visit with Arthur Dorros.
- Activity: To find out what happened in Bosnia after the time of this book, read Bosnia and Herzegovina Background. Compare the map with the 1993 map in the book.
- Discuss: Could the kind of fighting that happened in Bosnia in 1993 ever happen in the United States?
About the Author
Related books
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Rosoff, R. (2004). How I live now. Wendy Lamb Books. ages 14 and over
2005 Winner of the Michael Printz Award, and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, 2004 (UK). The setting is 21st Century England with the main character 15-year old New Yorker, Daisy. Controversial topics include anorexia, telepathy, descriptions of the horror of war, underage sex between cousins (not graphic) and references to other sexual content.
More for the teacher
Arthur Dorros tells the ''story behind the story" of how Under the Sun came to be.
Current status (2003) of the Children’s Village
Note that there are other homes for children that go be the name of Children’s Village; for example in New York.
Assessment
Under the Sun. Accelerated Reader: Quiz #86355 EN; Book Level 5.3; Points= 10.0
