The Only Road

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. In the beginning of the story, who does Jaime learn has died?

2. What US state do the children decide to flee to?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Jaime’s family know the gang means when they say that they want Jaime and his cousin to “deliver a gift to a friend”? (Chapters 1-3)

2. What is Jaime’s grandmother’s plan to deal with the Alphas, and why does the family reject this plan?

3. How does Jaime’s aunt use her skills as a seamstress to help Jaime and Ángela prepare for their journey north?

Paired Resource

“Childhood Stolen by Street Gangs”

• This article by Ioan Grillo, writing for the United Nations Refugee Agency, explains how gangs in Central America target children with violence, forcing the children to flee their homes. (Content Warning: This resource contains mentions of threatened sexual violence against children. Depending on your group and setting, this might be best utilized as a teacher-appropriate, not student-facing, resource.)
• This resource relates to the themes of The Drug Trade’s Impact on Central American Families and Children and The Experience of Migration.
• What features of the lives of children in Guatemala do you see both in this article and in Jaime’s and Ángela’s lives? What happens when the children try to flee gang violence by going to another part of Guatemala? Do you think this is a possible solution for Jaime and Ángela?

“Abandoned: Gangs in Guatemala Replace Families”

• This photo essay from The Guardian, by Ignacio Marin, explores the phenomenon of abandoned children coerced into gang activity in Guatemala. (Content Warning: This resource contains disturbing photographs and is not suitable for the youngest readers. It is most suitable when The Only Road is being used as a Hi-Lo selection for older readers.)
• This resource relates to the themes of The Drug Trade’s Impact on Central American Families and Children and The Experience of Migration.
• How does migration end up causing so many children in Guatemala to be without their parents? Why do you guess their parents would take this risk? After reading this article and viewing its photographs, what would you say are the benefits and drawbacks of these new gang “families” for these children? Do you think that Jamie and Ángela’s family’s plan is more or less dangerous for them than when the parents emigrate first?

Chapters 4-7

Reading Check

1. What is the first country that Jaime and Ángela cross into when they leave Guatemala?

2. Outside the church, what does Jaime do to pass time while they wait for the bus?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What do the cousins realize about their trip when they buy their bus tickets?

2. What does Ángela make Jaime memorize, and why does she do this?

3. When the cousins arrive in Arriaga, how do the graffiti at the bus station and the shelter at Iglesia de Santo Domingo show two different attitudes toward Central American migrants?

Paired Resource

“Mexico: Asylum Elusive for Migrant Children”

• This 3-minute video from Human Rights Watch describes the treatment of Central American children seeking refuge in Mexico. (Content Warning: This resource makes reference to violence against children.)
• This resource relates to the theme of The Experience of Migration.
• What is the difference between the Mexican government’s official policy and the way Central American refugee children are actually treated in Mexico? How is this reflected in Ángela and Jaime’s experiences so far? Do the cousins seem aware of how much danger they might be in?

Chapters 8-11

Reading Check

1. From context, what must El Norte refer to?

2. What game do Jaime and Ángela play with the other kids at the shelter?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. When Jaime wakes up in the shelter, what does seeing all the people around him make him realize?

2. Why does Xavi offer to help Joaquín?

3. What plan do Xavi, Joaquín, and Rafa have for continuing their journey north?

Paired Resource

“When Compassion Defeats Cruelty”

• In this ASPCA blog post, ASPCA CEO Matt Bershadker shares an uplifting story of how South Carolinians came together to help neglected animals.
• This resource relates to the theme of Compassion.
• What is compassion? Why did the author give the article this title—what point was he trying to make? How do his motives compare to the motives the children have when they try to help Vida? What about the children’s circumstances might make them especially compassionate toward other people and toward animals at this point in the book?

Chapters 12-14

Reading Check

1. What do the people on the train share with the two young children?

2. What causes the man on the train to fall unconscious?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. In what conditions do Jaime and Ángela find themselves on the train to Medias Aguas?

2. What do Ángela and Jaime talk about on the train that shows how frightened they really are?

3. What happens to the cousins when the train is met by an immigration officer?

Paired Resource

“Are We Biologically Wired to Help Others During Crisis?”

• This Psychology Today article by Dr. Tracy Asamoah explains the biological drive to help others during a crisis.
• This resource relates to the theme of Compassion.
• What are some of the reasons this article lists for our desire to help others during a crisis? What does this have to do with the idea of compassion? How do the people on the train show compassion for one another as conditions deteriorate?

Chapters 15-18

Reading Check

1. Who leads Xavi, Rafa, and Joaquín to where the cousins are hiding?

2. What bad news do Ángela and Jaime receive about the smuggler they are supposed to meet?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What experience of Rafa, Joaquín, and Xavi during their train ride demonstrates the compassion of ordinary Mexican people?

2. How does Rafa get into trouble in the marketplace?

3. What moral question is Xavi struggling with after the choices he made during the train ride?

Paired Resource

“How Child Psychiatrist Essam Daod Saves Refugees From Trauma” and “What Is Moral Injury?”

• The first of these resources is a 4-minute video profiling psychiatrist Essam Daod, who works to prevent long-term complications of post-traumatic stress disorder in refugees (teacher-appropriate; not student-facing).
• The second of these resources is an introduction to moral injury from the Moral Injury Project (teacher-appropriate; not student-facing).
• These resources relate to the themes of The Experience of Migration and Compassion.

Chapters 19-24

Reading Check

1. What do Lalo and Victor steal from Jaime and Ángela?

2. When Jaime finds Ángela on the morning after they jump from the train, what are the only two possessions the cousins have left?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why do the children jump from the train?

2. What do Ángela and Jaime realize when they see Vida alone?

3. What does Jaime find ironic about the view as they are walking around Ciudad Juárez?

Recommended Next Reads 

The Crossroads by Alexandra Diaz

• This sequel to The Only Road, an International Latino Book Award winner, picks up Jaime and Ángela’s story as they try to adjust to life as undocumented immigrants in the United States.
• Shared themes include The Drug Trade’s Impact on Central American Families and Children, The Experience of Migration, and Compassion.
• Shared topics include trauma, self-sacrifice, the impact of politics and violence on ordinary people, family relationships, and coming of age.

Refugee by Alan Gratz

• This middle-grade novel tells the stories of three refugee children from different cultures and different times, revealing surprising links between their stories.
• A shared theme includes The Experience of Migration.
• Shared topics include trauma, self-sacrifice, the impact of politics and violence on ordinary people, journeys, family relationships, and coming of age.
• Refugee on SuperSummary