Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy’s Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard

Politics are largely absent from this memoir. How does this affect the book, a story about those displaced by larger political issues? What does this authorial choice say about the story that Mawi wishes to tell? 

In Chapter 4, we see the habesha women giving injera bread to Mawi’s family; in Chapter 7, we see Mawi strategizing about how to get the most Halloween candy; and in the bonus material, we are given a few of Tsege’s recipes for habesha food. Food, as a cultural object, appears at various points in the book. How does food help (or hinder) assimilation for Mawi’s family? Aside from nourishment, what purposes do food and cooking serve, particularly for those communities in exile?

Compare Plymouth to Wessagussett. How were the two settlements similar? How were they different? What was the fate of each place? Give examples.

The Tigrinya language is employed at various times throughout the book, most notably at the end of Chapter 13, during Haileab’s funeral. How does using phrases in Tigrinya function in this book? 

On Page 124, we see Haileab playing the role of “ignorant refugee” by cunningly playing into a stereotype to his advantage. What does this say about Americans’ perception of refugees? Discuss other instances in the book where playing into unflattering, untrue stereotypes benefit the main characters.

In Chapter 8, we learn about the concept of libee migbar, a phrase that literally means “to develop a heart,” and refers to emotional maturity. Aside from Tewolde, are there other characters who go through libee migbar over the course of the book?  

In Chapter 6, we see Mawi getting into multiple fights at school, and, in Chapter 7, he engages in other incidents of youthful mischief, including stealing Halloween candy and knocking over a parking meter. How should we understand this violence and mischief, in terms of Mawi’s life? In the context of being a refugee, does this mischief and violence have different meaning?  

Mawi’s father Haileab is the primary focus of at least four chapters in this book, and he is inarguably one of the main influences in Mawi’s life. Compare the ways in which Haileab and Tewolde affect Mawi’s trajectory. How are the same and how do they differ?