Ground Zero

Chapters 1-6

Reading Check

1. English (Chapter 2)

2. The underground mall of the World Trade Center (Chapter 3)

3. Because they had not visited her village since she was born 11 years ago (Chapter 4)

4. Before the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, women wore many of the same fashions as in Europe or the US. (Chapter 5)

Short Answer

1. Brandon was suspended from school for punching another student in the nose, and no one could stay home with him. As a result, he is accompanying his dad to work at the Windows on the World restaurant in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. (Chapter 1)

2. Although they are twins, Pasoon and Reshmina lead different lives based on stereotypical gender roles. As a boy, Pasoon has minimal chores and much leisure time, while as a girl, Reshmina is responsible for most of the domestic and farming duties in addition to her schoolwork. (Chapter 2)

3. Mariam is a female Afghan translator working for the US Army. Reshmina is surprised to meet a woman translating since she has previously only seen Afghan women working in domestic settings. (Chapter 4)

4. Brandon and four adults are trapped in an elevator on the 85th floor of the North Tower. Working as a team, they pry open the doors and dig out part of the wall so Brandon can fit through a hole and find help. (Chapter 5)

5. Badal gives people “the right to revenge,” while nanawatai means no Pashtun can refuse when someone asks for help or protection. When Reshmina comes across an injured American soldier, she is torn between avenging her late sister’s death or assisting the soldier with his pleas for help. (Chapter 6)

Chapters 7-14

Reading Check

1. By practicing her English out loud (Chapter 8)

2. Because he carries a stuffed Tasmanian devil as a good luck charm (Chapter 8)

3. He skateboards. (Chapter 9)

4. An abandoned Soviet tank (Chapter 10)

Short Answer

1. After escaping through the hole in the wall, Brandon finds an ax to cut through the rest of the wall. With the help of employees on the floor, they retrieve the trapped people before the elevator plummets. While the trapped people decide to walk down the stairs and leave the building, Brandon decides to walk back up to the 107th floor to find his dad. (Chapter 7)

2. Baba will leave their house to travel to the US Army base and let them know that they are protecting Taz in their home. After Pasoon declares he is no longer a part of their family, Reshmina believes Pasoon has left to join the Taliban. (Chapter 8)

3. Brandon sees an NYPD helicopter flying nearby as he assesses his next move. After signaling for help, he realizes there is no way for the helicopter to reach him. (Chapter 11)

4. Richard is a man whom Brandon briefly encountered in the mall before entering the North Tower. He helps rescue Brandon and agrees to come with him to the 107th floor. (Chapter 13)

5. After escaping the American helicopters and finding their footing, Reshmina and Pasoon accidentally come across a nomadic tribe called the Kochi. The Kochi are calm in the midst of the surrounding warring chaos and offer the children food. (Chapter 14)

Chapters 15-22

Reading Check

1. Because they are trapped by a “sheet of blue flame” (Chapter 15)

2. Because “[t]he happy gunshots of the wedding procession had registered as an attack on an American airplane flying” above (Chapter 16)

3. Internationally imported weapons (Chapter 18)

4. With a rifle (Chapter 20)

5. “Refugees” (Chapter 21)

6. Heroin (Chapter 22)

Short Answer

1. Pasoon argues that the Taliban brought peace and employment to Afghanistan. At the same time, Reshmina reminds him that the Taliban also introduced laws that limit women’s freedoms and killed many people. (Chapter 16)

2. Daphne is Anson’s guide dog. Anson is a blind sales representative whom Brandon meets while waiting for help on the 89th floor. (Chapter 17)

3. Brandon realizes he can call his dad at the restaurant’s phone number. While they are speaking, a plane crashes into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. (Chapter 19)

Chapters 23-30

Reading Check

1. Because there is too much smoke (Chapter 23)

2. That he is “[j]ust a boy who needed a job.” (Chapter 24)

3. That a plane was also flown into the Pentagon (Chapter 25)

4. Mandarin Chinese (Chapter 30)

Short Answer

1. After narrowly escaping the guard of the poppy field, Reshmina sees a snow leopard. In this rare moment, “[i]t was almost as though she could feel the leopard’s strength in herself.” (Chapter 24)

2. Reshmina tells her family that the Taliban are coming to the village. The family plans their escape to the nearby caves and disguises Taz as a woman wearing a blue burqa. (Chapter 26)

3. Brandon sees debris and bodies inside and outside of the plaza. With the number of items and people falling from the building above, it is just as dangerous to exit the building without being crushed. (Chapter 27)

Chapters 31-38

Reading Check

1. The Wolverine claws (Chapter 31)

2. Treasures from previous invading empires, or “[a] memorial to all the armies who had invaded Afghanistan and conquered it” (Chapter 34)

3. A stuffed Tasmanian devil toy (Chapter 35)

Short Answer

1. After searching for survivors in the dark and damaged mall, Brandon hears someone singing “This Land Is My Land.” Following the sound, he finds Richard temporarily blinded and deafened by the blast. (Chapters 31 and 33)

2. Taz asserts that without US troops, the Taliban “will take over again.” Reshmina argues that just as many Afghans die from the US trying to help the country. (Chapter 32)

3. Taz realizes it is September 11, the same day the World Trade Center buildings were hit. Reshmina and her family are not aware of the terrorist attack and its significance in American history, nor that it is the reason the US military invaded Afghanistan. (Chapter 36)

4. It is the formal name for the area of the former World Trade Center buildings. It also applies to Reshmina’s village, which the US military destroyed. (Chapter 38)