Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1990

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Introduction

Before Reading

Reading Context

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

Answer Key

After Reading

Discussion/Analysis Prompt

Activity

Essay Questions

Exam Questions

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Introduction

Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Genre: Fiction; young adult magical realism
Originally Published: 1990
Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 940L; grades 8-12
Structure/Length: 12 chapters; approx. 216 pages; approx. 4 hours, 46 minutes on audio
Protagonist and Central Conflict: Young Haroun lives with his parents until his mother leaves and his father loses his gift for storytelling. To restore the wellspring of all stories, Haroun travels with a water genie named Iff to a moon that is controlled by a dictatorial ruler who suppresses free speech.
Potential Sensitivity Issues: Threats of violence, war, absence of a parent

Salman Rushdie, Author

Bio: Born in 1947 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India; grew up in India and England; earned his BA in history from King’s College, Cambridge; worked as an advertising copywriter before becoming a full-time writer; was targeted in 1989 by the Iranian government with a fatwa (legal ruling) ordering his execution for his allegedly blasphemous novel The Satanic Verses (1988); was knighted in 2007 for his services to literature; has received many literary awards, including the Booker Prize (1981), the James Joyce Award (2008), the Golden PEN Award (2011), and the PEN/Pinter Prize (2014); Haroun and the Sea of Stories has been adapted as both a play and an opera.