What was Oscar’s life like once he graduated from college and moved back to Patterson?Before Oscar meets Ybon, what is his time in the Dominican Republic like? Why do you think that he decides to stay


  1. What was Oscar’s life like once he graduated from college and moved back to Patterson?
  2. Before Oscar meets Ybon, what is his time in the Dominican Republic like? Why do you think that he decides to stay, rather than returning to Patterson with the rest of his family?
  3. Describe Oscar’s relationship with Ybon. How does he feel about her in comparison to how she seems to feel about him?
  4. What is similar about Oscar’s experience in the cane fields and what his mother had experienced decades earlier?
  5. What makes Oscar feel that his near-fatal beating was not a totally bad thing? How might the books that he has been obsessed with for years influence his decision about what he is going to do next?