Inviting a school counselor or social worker to speak to the class about family relationships might help students understand the options available to abused children today. Maggie learns that social change involves people standing up for what they believe is right. For her it means having the courage to tell the truth. For Zeke and George Hardy, it means making a nonviolent statement about unfair laws and customs. Stage a classroom debate in which one side argues that unless social change follows legal procedures, the means do not justify the ends, and the other side takes the stance that any means are justifiable if they achieve positive social change.
History is composed of the stories of many individual people.
After gathering the information about Dr. King's teachings and practices provided in the novel, interested students can conduct further research on his life and present it to the class. Historical research could also extend to other important civil rights activists such as Rosa Parks and Malcolm X. Krisher mentions the photographs in Life magazine several times in the novel. By perusing back issues of that magazine in library collections, students can gain a general sense of the 60s as well as discover more about the civil rights movement. It would be particularly interesting for them to learn more about the events Krisher refers to on page 157. When Maggie wants to give Zeke a gift, she decides to teach him to read, and Zeke is eager to learn to read and write.