Snow in August is a rich work suitable for many audiences. It would be especially useful with a young adult audience, even with junior high students. Its historical setting furnishes opportunity for investigation into 1940s America and life after the war, baseball, race relations, and a host of other topics. Readers interested in immigrant history and family roots will find the novel rewarding as well.

1. Michael's mother and father, Kate and Tommy Devlin, are clearly a major influence on his life. What do they teach him, and what is the image of family life in the novel?

2. Michael's slum surroundings would seem to offer a very limited view of the world and the future. How does Michael reach beyond his environment for a wider view of the world?

3. How does religion influence Michael—both his own Catholicism, and the Jewish tradition he learns from Rabbi...