http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/andrea-hirata/the-rainbow-troops-9781742758589.aspx

THE RAINBOW TROOPS by Andrea Hirata Format: Trade Paperback ISBN: 9781742758589 Imprint: Vintage Australia Released in January, 2013

Reading Group Questions

• The Rainbow Troops is a novel closely based on the author’s life. Does it surprise you to know it is contemporary?

• Is fiction a valid way of learning about a country or way of living that we have not been hugely exposed to?

Has this story changed any of your presumptions about Indonesia?

• It is said that in Indonesia, men have proposed to women with a copy of The Rainbow Troops (or Laskar

Pelangi as it is called in Indonesia) instead of a ring. What is it that people are responding to in this novel? What emotions did it evoke in you?

• The Rainbow Troops tackles serious issues – the right to education, poverty, oppression – yet remains

light-hearted and optimistic. How does the author achieve this fine balance?

• The novel explores those thorny and always popular middle school years. Would you classify it as a

coming-of-age novel, an inspirational tale, a fairy tale or . . ?

• Has The Rainbow Troops made you feel all young people share universal emotional experiences and rites of

passage, or has it emphasised how different we are across cultures and continents?

Reading Group Questions for The Rainbow Troops by Andrea Hirata Available in bookshops and ebook retailers January 2013

The Rainbow Troops: Print ISBN: 9781742758589 | ebook ISBN: 9781742758596 Imprint: Vintage Australia | Publisher: Random House Australia

Copyright © Andrea Hirata 2013. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.