Home of the Brave

Part 1

Reading Check

1. Dave (Poem 1)

2. He doesn’t realize that the trees are bare because it is winter. (Poem 3)

3. He sees his homeland of Sudan in the cow’s eyes. (Poem 5)

4. Nyatal, his aunt (Poem 6)

5. Six scars on the forehead (Poem 7)

Short Answer

1. While driving, Kek tells Dave he wants to see a cow in a field by the road. At first, Dave does not want to stop; but eventually says “what the heck” before turning the vehicle around to go back to the cow. Therefore, Kek associates the word “heck” with a desired outcome, even though he doesn’t explicitly know what “heck” means. (Poem 4)

2. Kek learns that he must lock the door to his home; he learns how to use a light switch; he learns what, precisely, a thermostat does. Compared to his life in Africa, these lessons are vastly different. (Poem 8)

3. Living with his aunt and cousin causes Kek to feel confusion and sadness. They remind him of his immediate family that he has lost: They remind him of his mother, who is currently missing; his brother (Lual) and father (Dak), who both passed away in a raid on their village in Sudan. (Poems 9-12)

Part 2

Reading Check

1. She is trying to track down Kek’s mother. (Poem 18)

2. 10 (Poem 23)

3. French fries (Poem 25)

4. A woman by the name of Louise, who goes by “Lou” (Poem 35)

Short Answer

1. Kek is torn between his old Sudanese identity and his new American identity. At first, Kek parades around the living room in his new school clothes, to the amusement of his aunt and the annoyance of his cousin. But upon looking at himself in the mirror, he wonders if he looks like an American boy—and also, if that would be a good thing or a bad thing. He wonders what will become of his former identity as he assimilates more and more into American culture. (Poem 19)

2. Kek loses his appetite when Hannah asks how Ganwar lost his hand. Kek explains that it happened while fighting in Sudan, when Ganwar also lost his family. Kek also talks about his father and brother’s deaths. Both Nishan and Jaime (refugees from Ethiopia and Guatemala, respectively) are also present for this discussion; they have witnessed similar horrors. (Poem 26)

3. In this section, Kek takes on a job helping care for the cow he met earlier in the book. The farm owner, Lou, recognizes Kek’s strong work ethic and facility with the animal. Ganwar scoffs upon hearing the news that Kek founds a job—he tells Kek that they will never be accepted in America, and yet they can never go back home to Africa. (Part 2)

Part 3

Reading Check

1. “Family” (Poem 38)

2. He accuses Kek of being from Kenya. (Poem 44)

3. That she had always wanted to learn to read and to own a book (Poem 47)

4. To leave the white girl alone and not put his hands on her (Poem 50)

Short Answer

1. Lou’s comment, which was meant to lighten the mood, makes everyone smile. Ganwar finally agrees to take the job at Lou’s farm; in this moment, Ganwar finally begins to have a sense of direction and purpose in life, which in turn gives him a sense of hope for the future. (Poem 41)

2. Kek notices the following differences between himself and his American classmates: They are annoyed waiting in line for any amount of time, but he remembers waiting in line for nine hours just to get a handful of corn at the refugee camp; Kek sees gazelles and other African animals that his classmates think of as “foreign” and recognizes them as being from his homeland; Kek also watches pigs rolling in mud at the petting zoo, and recognizes this as a tribal practice for people. This chapter serves to drive underscore the point that Kek is from a vastly different upbringing from most American children. (Poem 42)

3. Kek is completely overwhelmed by his trip with Hannah to the grocery store in Poem 45. He can’t get over the rows and rows of food and the bright lights—when he looks at the fresh, green vegetables he begins to cry. The “easy hope” arises from the abundance of food—and abundance, in general—that the grocery store represents for Kek, who has spent most of his life struggling to survive. (Poem 45)

Part 4

Reading Check

1. The trailer hitch is too rusted to use. (Poem 65)

2. Crossing a six-lane highway (Poem 66)

3. “A bag of bones” (Poem 67)

4. Because police officers escort Kek and the rest of the group, flashing their red, white, and blue lights along the way (Poem 67)

5. Lual, his older brother (Poem 67)

6. Because she is “geriatric” (Poem 68)

Short Answer

1. Gol, who is described as a “bag of bones” by police officers, is symbolic of the weight of the past that Kek continues to carry with him. Despite difficulties with traffic, the police, and even the zoo bosses’ initial reluctance to accept Gol, Kek succeeds and secures the cow a safe home for the rest of her life. Gol’s journey parallels Kek’s journey in many ways, and they both end in a place of new beginnings, and of peace. (Part 4)

2.  In the Epilogue, Kek is at the airport waiting for his long-anticipated reunion with his mother. At the airport, Kek guides her with confidence to the escalator and tells her “Welcome home,” signaling not only that he has assimilated into his new American life and culture, but that he has conquered his fears and is ready to help his mother conquer hers. The book ends on a hopeful note, with Kek eager to make his new life work and to take root in the United States forever. (Epilogue)