skip navigation links

Readers > Talk it Up! > Discussion guides > Kira-Kira

Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes

Summary

In points of view contrasting modern-day New York and the biblical-era Promised Land, Sam and Ishmael each struggle to understand betrayals from their fathers --betrayals which shake their belief in themselves, the men they grew up admiring, and the God in which they were each brought up to believe.

Booktalk

The book Dark Sons, by Nikki Grimes, is a hard book to describe. You can say it is free form poetry (show inside pages and format). You can say it's a book about feeling second best, like Ishmael does when his younger half-brother, Isaac is born (pg. 75):

Long awaited.

Twice promised.

Heir of Canaan.

Born of Sarah.

Son of miracles.

The one intended.

The son

who is

not me.

You can say it's a book about dealing with betrayal, like Sam does when his dad leaves (pg. 95):

What gospel is it

where a father

leaves his son?

Show me that one, Dad.

Point out the words

where God says

divorce is no biggie,

that you can dump

your wife and kid

and walk away

and that's okay.

On the surface, you can say Dark Sons tells the story of Ishmael and of Sam, two boys becoming young men. They are completely different from each other, yet share so much. Ishmael is the first-born son of Abraham and a lesser wife, Hagar, born in the Promised Land now known as Israel and Palestine. Ishamael has long been his father's pride and joy, but now his father has a new son, Isaac, born of Abraham's first wife, Ishmael struggles with the idea that he is being replaced in his father's heart, in their tribe, and that he will eventually be abandoned in the dessert, possibly to die.

Sam, on the other hand lives in modern-day New York, dealing with his parent's divorce and his father's remarriage. He struggles to understand how the man he has admired and looked up to his whole life can betray him by leaving. How can the man who has given him so much spiritual guidance turn his back on everything he has taught.

Both Ishmael and Sam are trying to make sense of the pain and sacrifice the God they believe in and trust seems to be asking of them. So the book, Dark Sons, by Nikki Grimes, is about many things. But at its heart, it is a story about faith – in a higher power, in other people, and in yourself.

So the book, Dark Sons, by Nikki Grimes, is about many things. But at its heart, it is a story about faith – in a higher power, in other people, and in yourself.

216 pages, 6th grade and up

Discussion questions

Warning! Some of the questions contain key elements of the plot. Do not read if you don't want to know what happens!

  1. In what ways are Ishmael and Sam alike? In what ways are their situations different?
  2. Why do you think the author chose to have the two young men living in different time periods?
  3. Who do you think Ishmael is most angry with, his father Abraham or Isaac? Why?
  4. Who do you think Sam is most angry with, his father James, or David? Why?
  5. Based on their words, what emotions do you think Sam and Ishmael are feeling? What emotions are the same? What emotions are different?
  6. Do Sam and Ishmael have good reasons for how they feel? Why or why not?
  7. Sam and Ishmael both seem to start their stories feeling strong in their faith. Is their faith the same at the end of their stories?
  8. How would you describe this book if you were telling someone else about it?

If you liked this book, try

Created in part with funds granted by the Oregon State Library under the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Oregon State Library. Send feedback to Katie O'Dell, Reading Promotions Coordinator