For the first part of the question, the ideas that you can list are discrimination, segregation. Why? Because the story talks about an African American family, so the events narrated are related to the discrimination that Africans Americans suffered around 1963. An example of this can be the description of the incident with the church, in the second part of the book.
The story also talks about the school environment, how the kids behave, their friendship and their problems. That can be another idea, childhood.
For the second part of the question, using a role is helps to understand because you can relate better with each character. The vocabulary is easier to understand. Is kind of a friend telling a story.
