Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

Men Don’t Cry

• the 2007 novel by the same author, Faïza Guène
• relates to the same themes of this novel

Discretion

• a 2022 novel by the same author, Faïza Guène
• relates to the same themes of this novel

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

• the 2017 novel by Erika L. Sanchez about growing up as a Mexican American teenage girl in Chicago
• similar protagonist context, as well as first-person narration style
• relates to themes of Life on the Periphery and Escape
• I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter on SuperSummary

Other Student Resources

Interview with author, Faïza Guène

• a 2020 interview published in Middle East Eye

“Street Literature” Video

• video featuring author Guène and other contemporary authors who are concerned with being on the Periphery of French literature
• relates to the same themes of the novel

La Haine

• a trailer for the 1995 movie about life in the banlieues (warning: violence)
• relates to the novel’s themes and is referenced by Doria in Chapter 41