“My advice on writing?” asked Joseph Bruchac, author of KILLER OF ENEMIES and sequel TRAIL OF THE DEAD, recently to a group of high school students gathered in our Lee & Low office.
“Read. Read a lot and read widely. Don’t just read on the Internet; read books. If you have a favorite writer, take a look at what she does and how she does it across her books. Also, write. Write a lot and write every day. My third piece of advice is revise—make writing worth reading.”
For our virtual author event, Joseph Bruchac called in to join the students from Grace Church School who were visiting our Lee & Low office in Manhattan. The students had read both books in Bruchac’s KILLER OF ENEMIES series and were interested in learning more about the main character Lozen, the world she lives in, and the inspiration behind the books.
During our conference call with Joseph Bruchac, students came prepared with their own questions, which included:
- What was society and the world like before the coming of the Cloud? What was your vision of the world?
- Luther’s chapters have a very different narration from Lozen’s chapters. What was the thinking behind this choice?
- Whose side is the Dreamer on?
- Did the Cloud make every One insane or are there some Ones who are still good?
- Coyote has a particular place in much Native American folklore but TRAIL OF THE DEAD has a lot of sci fi/fantasy monsters and mythical creatures. Where does Coyote fit in?
- Is Lozen’s journey similar to your own?
- How long did it take you to write the book? What advice do you have about writing?
Looking to lead your own book discussion with teens?
Check out our Discussion Questions for KILLER OF ENEMIES series with a focus on the latest release, TRAIL OF THE DEAD:
- Before the Silver Cloud, humans with computer-generated enhancements, called the Ones, controlled the world. Do you think author Joseph Bruchac’s vision of the future is convincing? Why or why not? What similarities do you see between the pre-Cloud world that the Dreamer described and our own world today?
- What role does community play in TRAIL OF THE DEAD? How is Lozen’s community critical to her healing?
- The Dreamer decides which books to save. Which book would you save?
- Do you have theories on who Hally is? What do you think motivates Hally and what do you think Hally wants?
- Author Joseph Bruchac alternates between first-person narration of Lozen to third person omniscient narration with Luther—why would the author do this? How does this build suspense? With whom does Joseph Bruchac want us to empathize? Does this affect our perception of Lozen as a trustworthy narrator?
- Joseph Bruchac, as an adult, created Lozen (her background, voice, and perspective) and chose to write her as a teenager. She can be very opinionated, sardonic, and mocking. Do you think Lozen is a representative teenager? Why or why not?
- Main character, Lozen, uses humor and sarcasm throughout the series. Why do you think author Joseph Bruchac uses humor in the telling of a post-apocalyptic tale? How is this story unique from other texts set in extreme and violent environments? How does humor and sarcasm help Lozen and the other characters cope or heal with their environment and experiences? In what circumstances in our world today do we see people using humor in difficult and stressful situations?
- The ending of TRAIL OF THE DEAD is left open for a follow-up (or perhaps a conclusion). What do you hope to see as Lozen’s (and the other characters’) story continues?
Resources and activities for engaging students on the KILLER OF ENEMIES book series:
1. Author Joseph Bruchac reads from TRAIL OF THE DEAD, the sequel to his post-apocalyptic Apache steampunk, KILLER OF ENEMIES.
2. Author Joseph Bruchac writes about KILLER OF ENEMIES in this exclusive Tu Books interview.
3. Have students write their own story after reading Tu Books publisher Stacy Whitman share how writers go about worldbuilding with the focus on post-apocalyptic settings.
4. 
Start an author study of Joseph Bruchac with his website and then explore his range of works, topics, and themes:
AMAZING FACES (poem contributor)
AMAZING PLACES (poem contributor)
5. Have students blog about and map through Google Maps the journey and world of Lozen in KILLER OF ENEMIES and TRAIL OF THE DEAD. This project was designed by Dr. Lisa Hager, Associate Professor of English and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at University of Wisconsin-Waukesha.
6. Have students write their own book reviews to submit to the school newspaper or present to the class. Students can read the reviews of KILLER OF ENEMIES and TRAIL OF THE DEAD at the bottom of the book pages for ideas.
Tu Books publisher Stacy Whitman broadened the discussion with looking at the challenges in children’s publishing today. As a group, we analyzed The Diversity Gap in Children’s Books infographic.
Possible questions for students:
- What trends do you see?
- What is the central idea?
- What is the context of this infographic? What are student and general U.S. population demographics today?
- What might some causes be for the lack of diversity in children’s books?
- What might the impact of a lack of diversity among authors and characters be on students reading books that were either assigned or self-selected? What might it mean for a young child growing up and reading? What will she see? What will she not see?
How to bring a LEE & LOW author or illustrator into your classroom live or virtually:
- Are you looking for someone local? Check out where our authors and illustrators live page and contact publicity[at]leeandlow.com for more information
- Have a short timeline or small budget? Learn about how to set up a Skype visit with an author or illustrator and how to make a school author visit fit your budget
Jill Eisenberg, our Senior Literacy Specialist, began her career teaching English as a Foreign Language for second through sixth grade in Yilan, Taiwan as a Fulbright Fellow. She went on to become a literacy teacher for third grade in the Bay Area, CA as a Teach for America corps member where she became passionate about best practices for supporting English Language Learners and parent engagement. In her column for Lee & Low’s The Open Book blog, she offers teaching and literacy tips for educators.
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