| 1. | On the first page of the book, Sade and Femi hear their mother being murdered. Reading about this, were you scared? How do you think Sade felt? |
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| 2. | Sade and Femi have to pretend to be Mrs. Bankole's children in order to escape to London. What might have happened that would have given away that they weren't really her children? |
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| 3. | Why do you think Mrs. Bankole left the children in London? |
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| 4. | Do you have something from your mother that you treasure as much as Sade treasured the little purse that her mother had sewn for her? What is it? How do you think Sade felt when the customs officer cut up her purse to make sure she wasn't smuggling drugs? |
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| 5. | Sade went to buy something at a cafe when they first arrive in London, but she didn't know how much the English coins were worth or if she had enough money. What things do you think might be hard for you if you were suddenly, overnight, sent to another country? |
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| 6. | How would you feel to have to stay in a stranger's home and wear their clothes, like Sade and Femi did when they first stayed at the Grahams' apartment? Why do you think Kevin was so mean to them? |
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| 7. | Some people Sade and Femi meet in London are not nice and are even mean, like the man who stole their suitcase. But who were some of the people who tried to help? |
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| 8. | Do you think it was right for Sade and Femi's father to risk his family's lives in telling the truth, that is, writing about all of what was going wrong in Nigeria? Why or why not? |
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| 9. | This story takes place over only a few weeks' time. If you had gone through what Sade had gone through, do you think you would have been able to go to school while all of this was going on? Why do you think the adults made Sade and Femi go to school? |
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| 10. | Is it sometimes okay not to tell the truth? Why? |
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| 11. | Why do you think Marcia and Donna pick on Sade at school? Why do you think Sade didn't stand up to them? |
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| 12. | Why do you think Femi acted the way he did? Why do you think he wouldn't talk with his sister when she wanted him to? |
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| 13. | Have you ever met anyone like Sade or Mariam, who had such scary experiences?
If you met someone like them now, do you think you might treat them differently, since you've read this book? How?
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| 14. | Did you know much about Nigeria or even Africa before reading this story? What did you know? |
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| 15. | Why do you think the government in Nigeria said that Sade's papa had murdered her mother? |
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| 16. | Even though going to the TV news station ended up helping her father, was it a smart thing for Sade and Femi to go there by themselves? Why or why not? |
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| 17. | Why do you think Sade and Femi are so upset when people think they are thieves or liars? |
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| 18. | Sade blames herself for her mother's death. Do you think she was wrong to blame herself? Why? |
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