Reading Group Guide

1. Why do you think the author chose to tell this story through

poetry instead of prose?

2. The book follows Rosa from childhood through adulthood.

How have the wars changed her?

3. Lieutenant Death says that his father corrected him when he

called Rosa a witch-girl because if he adds girl, “she’ll think

she’s human, like us.” How do you think this statement affected

Lieutenant Death’s opinion of Rosa?

4. We never learn Lieutenant Death’s real name. All of the other

characters who speak have their real name as the character

heading. How does this affect your opinion of the character?

5. Rosa heals Lieutenant Death after he falls from a tree. Why

does she help him? Why, even after her help, does he still

want to kill her?

6. Find a passage in the book that you enjoyed or felt a connection

with. Discuss what it was about that passage that made

it memorable for you.

7. Who was your favorite character and why?

8. What does the Surrender Tree represent to Rosa?

9. Why does Rosa help anyone, no matter what side they fight

for, free of charge?

10. Silvia ends the book saying “Peace is not the paradise I

imagined, but it is a chance to dream.” What do you think

she means by this? What do you think the rest of her life

will be like?

11. Take an experience from your own life and write a few lines

of poetry to tell the story.