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In My Hands by Irene Gut Opdyke

About the Book

In the fall of 1939 the Nazis invaded Irene Gut’s beloved Poland, ending her training as a nurse and thrusting the sixteen-year-old Catholic girl into a world of degradation that somehow gave her the strength to accomplish what amounted to miracles. Forced into the service of the German army, young Irene was able, due in part to her Aryan good looks, to use her position as a servant in an officers’ club to steal food and supplies (and even information overheard at the officers’ tables) for the Jews in the ghetto. She smuggled Jews out of the work camps, ultimately hiding a dozen people in the home of a Nazi major for whom she was housekeeper. An important addition to the literature of human survival and heroism, In My Hands is further proof of why, in spite of everything, we must believe in the goodness of people.

For more information about the Holocaust and lesson ideas, check out the following articles:

This guide was prepared by Karen Iker, who has a master’s degree in American literature.

Discussion Questions

  • When Germany invades Poland, Irene is separated from her family and loses her country. She says, “In the war, everything was unnatural and unreal.” (p. 1) What is life like during wartime? How does Irene react to her new circumstances? How does she manage to adapt to her new reality?
  • “I did not ask myself, Should I do this? But, How will I do this? Every step of my childhood had brought me to this cross-road; I must take the right path, or I would no longer be myself.” (p. 126) How does Irene grow into her role as a rescuer? What is her first small step? How does she gradually increase the risks she takes? What skills does she acquire that help her succeed? How does her telling her story now relate to her resistance during the war?
  • Major Rügemer agrees that he will not turn the Jews hidden in his basement over to the Gestapo if Irene will become his mistress. She describes this relationship as “worse than rape.” (p. 191) In what ways is it worse? Does she believe she has any choice? What does she imagine the people she is hiding would want her to do?
  • Irene faces the threats of torture and imprisonment in Siberia. She is raped by a Russian soldier, blackmailed by a German officer, and separated for years from her family. She knows that the fate of her Jewish friends is in her hands. What does she risk to help? What is her biggest sacrifice?
  • Irene often says that she had no choice but to act as she did and that God put her in the right place to act. But in her epilogue she tells us, “God gave me this free will for my treasure. I can say this now. I understand this now. The war was a series of choices made by many people.” (p. 235) Were Irene’s actions predestined or the result of her free will? How is free will an important idea in understanding the Holocaust?
  • On the first page of Irene’s story, an image of a bird represents a horrible scene she witnessed during the war: “There was a bird flushed up from the wheat fields, disappearing in a blur of wings against the sun, and then a gunshot and it fell to the earth. But it was not a bird. It was not a bird, and it was not in the wheat field, but you can’t understand what it was yet.” (p. 1) What does she need to make the reader understand? Why do you think she begins and ends her story with a reference to this incident?
In My Hands

In My Hands

Irene Gut Opdyke
Age Level:
Middle Grade
Genre:
Autobiography and Memoir, Nonfiction
Published:
2006

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Bloomability by Sharon Creech

About the Book

Bloomability, by Newbery medalist Sharon Creech, tells the coming-of-age tale of Dinnie, a thirteen-year-old girl uprooted from her parents’ nomadic lifestyle to spend a year in Switzerland. Dinnie is used to change, since her whole life has been comprised of moving to a new town every time her father excitedly stumbles upon a new opportunity. But when Dinnie’s aunt and uncle invite her to stay with them and attend an American international school in Switzerland, she wants to rebel and stay with her family. “I was used to moving, used to packing up and following along like a robot, but I was tired of it. I wanted to stop moving and I wanted to be somewhere and stay somewhere and I wanted my family” (p. 17).

Dinnie arrives in Switzerland homesick, scared, and stubbornly refusing to enjoy herself. Throughout the course of the year, however, Dinnie not only becomes comfortable in her new surroundings, but also sees the appeal of the new experiences, struggles, and opportunities presented to her.

About the Author

Sharon Creech is the author of the Newbery Medal winner Walk Two Moons and the Newbery Honor winner The Wanderer. Her other novels include Heartbeat, Ruby Holler, Love That Dog, Bloomability, Absolutely Normal Chaos, Chasing Redbird, and Pleasing The Ghost, as well as three picture books: A Fine, Fine School; Fishing in the Air; and Who’s That Baby?. After eighteen years of teaching and writing in Europe, Ms. Creech and her husband now live in upstate New York.

Guide provided by Harper Collins.

Discussion Questions

  • Why does Dinnie refer to her time with her parents as her “first life,” and her time in Switzerland as her “second life”? If her “third life” begins at the end of the book, how do you think it would differ from the first two?
  • To Dinnie, Switzerland is a strange and unfamiliar place that grows to feel comfortable. What similarities does she discover between Switzerland and her various homes in America? What differences? How do both the similarities and differences help Dinnie appreciate her experiences there?
  • After Guthrie is rescued from the avalanche, Dinnie has a dream that her bubble is gone (pp. 228-29). What does that signify to Dinnie? How do the preceding events lead up to this revelation?
  • Explain the contrasting perspectives of Lila and Guthrie, taking into consideration Guthrie’s story of the two prisoners. How does Dinnie’s personality complement theirs?
  • Discuss Uncle Max’s graduation speech about variety (p. 250). How do variety and acceptance at the international school affect Dinnie? How is it different from her previous experiences? How does it make Dinnie feel about herself?
  • What is Dinnie’s relationship with her parents like? How does this affect her fears about being in a foreign country?
  • How do Dinnie’s dreams illustrate her concerns and thoughts? Select some examples to discuss.
  • By the end of the book, Dinnie resolves that she no longer feels like a stranger, even while moving from place to place. Like a snail, she carries her home on her back. What does she discover about the notion of home? How do her experiences in Switzerland lead her to that conclusion (p. 261)?
  • Why do you think this book is called Bloomability?
Bloomability

Bloomability

Sharon Creech
Age Level:
Middle Grade
Genre:
Fiction
Published:
2012