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LORD OF THE NUTCRACKER MEN
by Iain Lawrence
List Price: $5.99
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0440418127
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
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Ten-year-old Johnny eagerly plays at war with the army of nutcracker soldiers his toymaker father whittles for him. He demolishes imaginary foes. But in 1914 Germany looms as the real enemy of Europe, and all too soon Johnny's father is swept up in the war to end all wars. He proudly enlists with his British countrymen to fight at the front in France. The war, though, is nothing like what any soldier or person at home expected.
The letters that arrive from Johnny's dad reveal the ugly realities of combat — and the soldiers he carves and encloses begin to bear its scars. Still, Johnny adds these soldiers to his armies of Huns, Tommies, and Frenchmen, engaging them in furious fights. But when these games seem to foretell his dad's real battles, Johnny thinks he possesses godlike powers over his wooden men. He fears he controls his father's fate, the lives of all the soldiers in no-man's land, and the outcome of the war itself.
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1. What is the relevance of Johnny's father being a toy maker? How are youth and adulthood represented in the novel? How is Johnny's father described before the war? What is his attitude toward the war at that time? How does Johnny's father's attitude toward the war change once he has reached the front? How do the descriptions of him change at that time?
2. What role does nationality play throughout the book? How does Johnny's father feel about neighbors and friends such as Fatty Dienst when they leave England to fight in the war? Does his opinion of them change when he is fighting on the front lines?
3. How does Johnny's understanding of war change from the beginning of the novel to the end? How are his feelings and his interpretation of war reflected in his battles with the toy soldiers? How are they reflected in his image of his father? How does Johnny's experience with war parallel his father's?
4. What impact does the war have on women in this novel? What impact does it have on Sarah in specific? How does Sarah's knowledge and interest in the war influence Johnny's impression of her?
5. "For amusement [the gods] toy with the people. To the gods, the people are merely pieces in a great game." (p. 54) How is this idea reflected throughout the novel? How is God represented throughout the novel? Who is able to play the role of God?
6. Why is Mr. Tuttle so upset when his roses are destroyed? What do they represent to him? What did they represent to Johnny when he destroyed them? How does Johnny's attitude change by the end of the story?
7. When referring to Johnny's father, Aunt Ivy comments: "[The war] will rot him away if it doesn't end soon. He'll be changed; he'll be different. He'll be hollow." (p. 89) Does Aunt Ivy's prophecy come true? Why or why not? Who else might Aunt Ivy be describing? How does the war affect other soldiers throughout the novel?
8. What role do letters play in the novel? What part do they play in the war? Describe the different types of letters that people receive throughout the novel? How do these letters affect their lives? How do the letters from Johnny's father change from the beginning of the novel to the end?
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"Big themes are hauntingly conveyed through gripping personal story and eerie symbolism."
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred
"Beautifully integrated supporting characters reinforce Lawrence's theme of the horror of war."
—The Horn Book Magazine
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Courtesy of
Laurel Leaf
ReadingGroupGuides.com -- AuthorsOnTheWeb.com -- AuthorYellowPages.com
Teenreads.com -- Kidsreads.com
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