These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before or after reading the book.

Personal Response Prompt

Falling Leaves is the memoir of Adeline, a young Chinese girl, who feels unwanted by her family. She is often left out, forgotten, and bullied. Write two or three paragraphs about a time when you felt unwanted in your family, within a social circle, or in a public setting like church or school.

• What caused you to feel unwanted?
• How did you handle the situation at the time?
• Reflecting on it now, how does that experience make you feel? What did you learn from it?

Teaching Suggestion: After students write or discuss their responses, discuss how their experiences compare to those of Adeline, who spent a lifetime feeling unwanted and unlucky. This exercise is intended to help students relate to Adeline on an emotional level.

Post-Reading Analysis

The Prologue opens the narrative with the reading of Adeline’s father’s will and the smug betrayal of her stepmother Niang. Why do you think Adeline chose to start her story at this specific point in time? How does it set the tone for the rest of narrative?

Teaching Suggestion: Her father’s will becomes a symbol of power and, later, love.