Teachers’ Notes
Be Home for
Armageddon
Luke Edwards
Teachers’ notes written by Madeline Holmes
OMNIBUS BOOKS
Category
Title
Young Adult
Contents
Be Home for
Armageddon
Author
Luke Edwards
Extent
272 pp
Age
10+
ISBN
978 1 86291 941 9
Introduction………………..……………………………………......
2
About the Author……………………………………………………
2
Before Reading the Text.…………………………………………. 2
Reading the Text......................................................... 3
After Reading the Text……….………………………………....... 7
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Introduction
Grundell Street is not your average suburban street. With three sentient black holes
living across the road from Victor, life is about to take a few ridiculous turns.
Fortunately, he has his friend Soo and his science teacher, Mr Blake, on hand when
things start to get seriously out of control, like the world ending out of control. Be
Home for Armageddon is an oddball mix of humour and science fiction that looks at
the big picture, universe style.
About the Author
Luke Edwards is a full-time author and illustrator living in Adelaide. His first picture
book, which he also illustrated, Ock Von Fiend, is the story of a misunderstood
vampire; it enjoys a cult following. His second, The Staring Owl, was shortlisted for
Mary Ryan’s Award in the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards in 2011 and its
cover design (by Luke) Commended in the APA Design Awards in the same year. Luke
wrote a novel based on this story before rewriting and illustrating it in the form of a
picture book.
Be Home for Armageddon is his first published young adult novel.
Before Reading the Text
1) Have a general discussion about Australian fiction and what expectations we
have when we read Australian authors and stories set in Australia. Do you
feel that Australian fiction is easily identifiable with common themes and
ideas? Is there a specific tone unique to Australian fiction?
2) Consider the science-fiction genre. What does science fiction mean to you?
What do you expect from science-fiction stories? Are there typical
conventions you would encounter in a science-fiction novel?
2
Reading the Text
Part One
Class discussion
Ask students to read the opening chapter in class in order to have a group discussion
about their first impressions. The author puts us immediately into the action and
quickly establishes the tone of the story.
When thinking about what this chapter tells us, important elements to consider are
tone, characterisation, setting, pace and emerging themes. To start, centre the
discussion on these questions:
 How does the opening chapter set up the story?
 What do we learn immediately about Victor and the world he lives in?
 What do you make of the story’s tone?
Research task
Soo decides that the reporting of the ‘explosion’ is government propaganda and that
the government is covering up what really happened. Propaganda is misleading
information and in this instance Soo suspects the government is using the explosion
theory to alleviate concerns of something more sinister. Consider the question: is
misleading the public for its own well-being ever the right thing to do?
Your task is to present both sides of the debate in only 400 words. You’ll need to
research each argument to make sure that you have evidence to support your claim.
Even if your particular viewpoint is aligned with only one side, make sure that each
argument is sound.
Literary component
Keeping a response blog will prove valuable when it comes to written response
activities. Writing down your responses is a good way to order your thoughts. After
each chapter, summarise what happened and your impressions of what you have
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just read. As well as responding to the plot, make sure you pay attention to other
elements like setting, pace, use of humour and ideas. Consider the behaviour of
characters and climactic moments in the plot. Note how or if relationships change.
During your blogging process, come up with a question or discussion about the book
for other students to interact with. Make sure you post at least two responses on
other blogs in answer to other questions or ideas.
Part Two
Class discussion
On discovering the existence of sentient black holes, Victor and Soo’s teacher Mr
Blake says that the fabric of his reality is being torn apart.
The idea of characters discovering that what they thought to be true is not in fact
true is a common device used in fiction. Think about how many stories you have
read that use this as a premise. What do you think is so appealing about this line of
enquiry to authors? What does it offer a story?
Have a general discussion about the idea of reality and what it means. Consider how
we define reality and whether or not each person’s reality is different. Mr Blake
references his own reality. If one person’s interpretation of the world differs from
the next, does this mean there are multiple realities? What is the relationship
between truth and reality?
Research task
The black holes solicit cultural information from television programs and base their
understanding of earth’s society on the content in UK dramas.
Choose a television program that you think represents a particular culture. It could
represent Australian culture or Asian culture or a cooking culture or a sporting
culture.
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When you analyse your chosen show, do so with the mindset of drawing solely from
the program to gain an understanding of society. The following questions are a guide
for your analysis (you are not restricted to these questions alone):

What does your chosen program say about relationships?

What does it say about values?

What does it say about customs?

What does it say about speech and interaction?

What does it say about living situations?
Write up your findings on your blog.
Literary component
‘Sure. Privacy is very important. That’s why we have all the fences and
curtains, and locks. Lots of locks.’ Mr Blake in response to Harriet and Hal’s
questions on privacy, p. 113.
Mr Blake goes on to say privacy is the foundation of suburban life. Over time, we
have come to define privacy as a basic human right. Consider what privacy means to
you and why it has become something so important and valued by society. Is privacy
necessary? Why is it so important to our daily existence? Does privacy detract from
human relationships? Write a blog post about privacy in society.
Part Three
Class discussion
There are multiple references in the novel to how the introduction of the Internet
has changed the way the world runs. Soo comments that using the Internet changed
the way her grandma saw the world. Victor and Soo have a conversation about how
government activities have been curtailed in the Internet age.
Have a discussion about the Internet using these questions to prompt conversation:

What do you think the Internet means for society and government?
5

What does the Internet mean in terms of communication?

How has the Internet changed the way the world is run?

Do you think the situation on Grundell Street could be realistically silenced
given the communication channels available on the Internet?
Research task
You work for a public relations firm contracted by the government to create a
communications plan to deal with an unexplained incident, much like the one that
has occurred in the novel. You can make up the unexplained incident and provide
this information in your background of the plan.
In your communication plan, you should have these subheadings:
Background

This is a brief summary of key issues.
Goal/Objectives

What do you hope to achieve by implementing your communication
plan?
Target Audiences

Who needs access to information about this project? You need to
consider the different publics you will need to communicate with, that is,
be more specific than the ‘general public’. For example, you will need to
deal with the media and maybe a curious scientific community, as well as
the local residents, the local council, possible nearby businesses or
schools.
Key Messages

What are the key messages you need to communicate to your audiences?
Why is this information needed?
Communication Tactics

How do you propose to communicate your key messages? What
information channels will you use?
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Literary component
1) It’s not always easy to uncover a novel’s theme (or themes, as a story can
have many) as it’s not explicitly written out for you. You can discover the
novel’s themes by asking the following questions:

What is the novel really about?

What ideas are being explored in character attitudes and behaviours?

What do you think the author is trying to communicate through the
story?
Setting out a chart with the headings ‘character’, ‘behaviour or action’,
‘attitude’ and ‘theme’ may help you establish thematic concerns. Write 250
words on what you think the themes are.
2) Select an important relationship in Be Home for Armageddon and, using
examples in the text, analyse the relationship arc. Be specific when you
describe what you learn from individual episodes in the text and then
summarise what you learn about the characters and the development of the
relationship.
After Reading the Text
Class discussion
Have a general discussion about reactions to the novel. Here are some guiding
questions and discussion points to start student conversations:

What does the book say about truth and scientific knowledge?

Is Mr Blake a good teacher?

Should teachers and students be friends?

What do you learn about scientific theory?

What did you make of Victor and Soo’s relationship?

What do you think of the idea that sentient black holes exist through
genocide? Can you draw parallels to humanity?

Discuss the relationship between Victor and his mum.
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
What do you think of science-themed fiction? Does it give implausible
scenarios a degree of credibility?

What does the story say about our place in the universe?

Are you satisfied with the conclusion?

What is this story essentially about?
Research task
Research a significant scientific discovery that altered the way society regarded the
world. Imagine that you write for a popular science journal that is easily accessible to
an audience that has an interest in science but no real scientific education. When
you write up your findings, comment on the importance of science and research and
how truth and reality are not necessarily fixed ideas. Post your write-up on your
blog.
Literacy component: written response
1) Critical Response
Now that you’ve finished Be Home for Armageddon and have completed your
response journal, you have enough information through activities and class
discussions to discuss the novel in depth in essay form. Choose one of the
previous discussion questions and write 800 words using examples from the text
to illustrate your point.
2) Creative Response
Either choose an episode in the novel or imagine a scene that takes place in
between events in the novel that we don’t witness to rewrite from the
perspective of a particular character. Make sure your piece is written in firstperson narration so we have access only to the perspective and reality of the
character you’ve chosen.
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