Ground Zero by Alan Gratz: Full-Book Quiz

Test your knowledge of Alan Gratz's Ground Zero with this 20-question quiz. Questions cover plot, character motivation, themes, and big-picture synthesis. Answers and explanations are at the bottom. If you need a refresher, check the book summary or the questions and answers page.

Plot and Sequence (Questions 1–8)

1. Why is Brandon suspended from school at the start of the book?

A) He stole another student's Wolverine gloves
B) He punched a classmate who had taken someone else's gloves
C) He skipped class to go to the World Trade Center
D) He fought with a teacher over a toy

2. Where does Brandon's father, Leo, work?

A) In the underground mall of the World Trade Center
B) At Windows on the World on the 107th floor of the North Tower
C) In the South Tower's observation deck
D) At a restaurant in the Brooklyn Navy Yard

3. What happens to the elevator Brandon is riding when the first plane hits?

A) It stops normally at the 78th floor
B) It slides downward, then is stopped by the emergency brake
C) It crashes all the way to the basement
D) It reverses and goes back up to the 107th floor

4. What does Reshmina discover while gathering firewood after the battle?

A) A hidden Taliban weapons cache
B) A blind, wounded American soldier
C) Her brother Pasoon's toy airplane
D) A Soviet-era tank

5. After the soldiers search Reshmina's house, what does Pasoon reveal?

A) That he hid a rifle in the goat pen
B) That the Taliban started a rumor about weapons to lure the soldiers into a trap
C) That he wants to become a teacher
D) That he knows where the American soldier is hiding

6. What happens to the South Tower while Brandon is escaping?

A) It is hit by a third plane
B) It collapses into rubble
C) It remains standing until the next day
D) It is evacuated safely

7. How does Brandon finally escape the underground mall after the collapse?

A) He follows a firefighter's flashlight
B) He leads a human chain using smell and landmarks, then climbs out on Vesey Street
C) He is rescued by a helicopter
D) He finds a subway tunnel that leads to Brooklyn

8. What happens to Reshmina's village at the end of the book?

A) It is rebuilt by American soldiers
B) It is destroyed by an airstrike-triggered landslide
C) It is taken over by the Taliban without violence
D) It is evacuated before any damage occurs

Character Motivation (Questions 9–13)

9. Why does Brandon decide to climb upward in the North Tower instead of going down with the others?

A) He wants to find a better escape route
B) He is determined to reach his father at Windows on the World
C) He is afraid of the crowds on the lower stairs
D) He wants to retrieve his Wolverine claws from the mall

10. Why does Reshmina decide to help the wounded American soldier?

A) She hopes to get a reward from the US Army
B) She feels bound by Pashtunwali's rule of nanawatai (granting refuge)
C) She wants to learn English from him
D) She believes he can protect her family from the Taliban

11. What motivates Pasoon to join the Taliban?

A) He wants to become a teacher like his sister
B) He seeks revenge for his sister's death and economic opportunity
C) He is forced by his father to join
D) He wants to escape an arranged marriage

12. Why does Richard stay with Brandon and help him throughout the ordeal?

A) He is paid by Brandon's father
B) He feels a sense of duty and human connection after they survive together
C) He needs Brandon to guide him out of the building
D) He wants to adopt Brandon

13. Why does Brandon feel guilty about the woman who ran through the flames in the elevator?

A) He pushed her out of the elevator
B) He had urged her to leave the elevator, and she was badly burned
C) He refused to help her escape
D) He accidentally closed the elevator doors on her

Theme and Symbol (Questions 14–17)

14. What does Pasoon's toy airplane symbolize throughout the story?

A) The hope of flight and escape
B) Pasoon's lost childhood and his departure to join the Taliban
C) The American military's air power
D) Reshmina's dream of becoming a pilot

15. What does the cedar seed that Reshmina plants represent?

A) The destruction of Afghanistan's forests
B) Hope for new life and rebuilding despite war
C) The cycle of violence
D) The Taliban's control over the land

16. What does the Tasmanian Devil stuffed animal that Brandon carries symbolize?

A) The randomness of fate and the luck of survival
B) The consumerism of the underground mall
C) Brandon's fear of monsters
D) The American flag

17. What does the term "Ground Zero" come to mean in the book?

A) The exact spot where a bomb explodes or a disaster occurs
B) The starting point of a journey
C) A place of zero importance
D) The underground mall's basement level

Synthesis (Questions 18–20)

18. How do Brandon and Reshmina both show resilience in the face of loss?

A) They both immediately join the military to fight back
B) They both continue moving forward and find ways to help others despite their grief
C) They both flee to Pakistan to start new lives
D) They both forget their pasts and focus only on survival

19. How does the book illustrate the cycle of violence between the US and Afghanistan?

A) By showing that the Taliban never attacks civilians
B) By showing that American aid always helps without causing harm
C) By showing that US actions, like arming the mujahideen, helped create the Taliban, and that revenge leads to more destruction
D) By showing that both sides eventually stop fighting

20. What is the significance of the title Ground Zero?

A) It refers only to the site of the World Trade Center attacks
B) It refers both to the literal site of the attacks and to the metaphorical "ground zero" of destruction and rebuilding in Afghanistan
C) It is the name of the underground mall
D) It is the name of the American soldier's base

Answer Key

1. B — Brandon punched Stuart Pendleton, who had stolen another boy's Wolverine gloves. The fight led to his suspension and his trip to the World Trade Center.

2. B — Leo Chavez works as a kitchen manager at Windows on the World on the 107th floor of the North Tower.

3. B — The elevator slides downward abnormally after the plane hits; the passengers press the emergency stop, halting the car. They then break through drywall to escape.

4. B — Reshmina finds a blind, wounded American soldier (later identified as Taz) while gathering firewood. She decides to help him under Pashtunwali.

5. B — Pasoon reveals that the Taliban started the rumor about a weapons cache to lure the soldiers into a trap. This sets up his later radicalization.

6. B — The South Tower collapses into rubble, which Brandon witnesses after escaping the mall. The collapse also caused the destruction he survived underground.

7. B — Brandon leads a human chain through the dark mall, using smells (bananas and pink grapefruit) and landmarks (Bugs Bunny statue, Sbarro) to find the exit on Vesey Street.

8. B — In the final chapters, an American airstrike triggers a landslide that destroys the entire village, leaving Reshmina and her family to dig through rubble.

9. B — Brandon's primary motivation is to reach his father at Windows on the World. He climbs upward even when it is dangerous, driven by family loyalty.

10. B — Reshmina feels bound by Pashtunwali's rule of nanawatai, which requires granting refuge to anyone who asks for help, even an enemy.

11. B — Pasoon is motivated by revenge for his sister Hila's death (killed by an American drone) and by economic hardship. He also believes the Taliban will provide for him.

12. B — Richard and Brandon form a bond through shared survival. Richard repeatedly protects Brandon, and at the end they hold hands and weep together, showing mutual care.

13. B — Brandon urged the woman to run through the flames to escape the elevator. She was badly burned, and Brandon blames himself, though Richard later tells him she would have died if she stayed.

14. B — The toy airplane represents Pasoon's childhood and his eventual departure to join the Taliban. Reshmina takes it from him to try to stop him, but he leaves anyway.

15. B — Reshmina plants a cedar seed in the graveyard, hoping for new life. It symbolizes hope and the possibility of rebuilding despite the cycle of destruction.

16. A — The Tasmanian Devil is a random object Brandon picks up in the wreckage. Richard calls it lucky, and it becomes a symbol of the randomness of survival and the small comforts that carry people through trauma.

17. A — Taz explains that Ground Zero is "the place where a big bomb goes off, or a big disaster happens." It refers to the World Trade Center site and, metaphorically, to Reshmina's destroyed village.

18. B — Both characters face devastating losses—Brandon loses his father, Reshmina loses her home and sister—but both keep moving forward. Brandon helps others escape, and Reshmina decides to rebuild and continue her education.

19. C — The book shows that US support for the mujahideen against the Soviets helped create the Taliban, and that American military actions cause civilian casualties, fueling revenge and further violence. Reshmina explicitly tells Taz that America helped create the Taliban.

20. B — The title works on two levels: the literal Ground Zero of the World Trade Center attacks and the metaphorical "ground zero" of destruction and rebuilding in Afghanistan, where Reshmina's village becomes a new Ground Zero.

For deeper analysis, see the ending explained page.