The Emerald Atlas Questions and Answers

Chapter one: Mrs. Lovestock's Hat


Questions:

1.  Mrs. Lovestock loved all things related to _______?
2. What did Mr. Lovestock do on his annual vacations that prove to be quite ironic?
3. Mrs. Crumbly, the mean headmistress of the orphanage, likes to eat ______?
4. What is so special about the book, "The Dwarf Omnibus"?
5. Why did the children leave St. Mary's with Sister Agatha?
6. Ten years have passed, how old are the kids now?
7. In the past ten years, how many orphanages had the kids been living? A) 8, B) 6, C) 10, D) 12
8. Ms. Crumbly's orphanage is named, "Edgar Allan Poe Home for Hopeless and Incorrigible Orphans".  What does the highlighted word mean?
9. Why do the children refuse to consider themselves orphans?

Answers:

1. swans
2. hunts swans
3. candy
4. This book was tucked into Michael's blankets Christmas eve night when they left their parent's.  Their mom had given it to their dad as a Christmas present.
5. Sister Agatha burned the place down smoking in bed
6. Kate is 14, Michael is 12, Emma is 11
7. D
8. can't be corrected or made to do/act correctly
9. The children do not believe that their parents are dead.

Chapter two: Mrs. Crumbly's Revenge

1. On their way to the new orphanage, what did Kate and Emma learn that Michael had stolen by sneaking into Ms. Crumbly's office?
2. What promise did Kate make to her mother? 
3. Michael and Emma tried to think of possible ideas hoping that their suggestions would help Kate remember what?
4. On their way to Cambridge Falls, who picks the kids up in a horse drawn wagon?  
5. What do the kids discover that comes out at night in Cambridge Falls that causes them fear and Abraham to worry?
6. As they approach the huge orphanage, Kate realizes that she first dreamt of the orphanage when she fell asleep where?

Answers:

1. A bag of candy 
2. Kate promised to take care of her brother and sister 
3. Their last name that begins with a P
4. Abraham 
5. Wolves 
6. On the train to Cambridge Falls

 

Chapter Three: The King and Queens of France

1. Who is the character described as the "old crab-backed housekeeper and cook?
2. Their first night after the best dinner they'd had in years, what did Abraham give to the children and why?
3. Kate had many questions about Cambridge Falls, but what worried her most? 
4. What was Abraham's warning to the children? 

Answers:

1. Miss Sallow 
2. Abraham gave them" an old black-and-white photograph" that "showed A wide lake and, in the distance, the chimney – Peaked roofs of houses rising above the trees". He wanted them to see how the bleak place used to look. 
3. Kate wondered why there were no children anywhere.
4. Abraham warned them not to roam around. 

The Emerald Atlas: Prologue

Here are some questions about the Prologue of the book. The answers will follow.
Feel free to check behind me.

1. The book begins on what holiday night?
2. How old is Kate?
3. Vocabulary: What does the highlighted word mean? "Then the man said something Kate couldn't hear, and it was as if a heavy curtain was drawn around her mind, obliterating the man in the doorway, the light, her mother, everything?"
4. Who was it that the tall man had told him that he had seen and was now dead?
5. Sister Agatha tells the tall man that the children will need a new surname.  What's a surname?
6. What surname did the tall man give the children?

Answers:

1. Christmas Eve
2. 4 years old
3. erasing
4. Devon McClay
5. last name
6. P

The Emerald Atlas

My son, who is in the fifth grade, is participating in a reading competition.  I decided that I was going to read some of the books with him.  Well, I read the first book and in the time it took me to finish the book, he had read six of the books!  So much for reading along with my kid!

Anyway, the first book was "The Emerald Atlas: The Book of Beginning" by John Stephens.   I really enjoyed the book.  I can't believe how enjoyable the reading experience proved to be.  I was totally engaged.  While I'm sure that one could read the reviews and the synopsis of the book, here is my stab.....

The book opens with the recollection of a long ago Christmas eve night by four year old Kate.  The child recalls how she and her siblings were taken from their parents for their protection.  I felt the angst of the mother saying goodbye to her children who had been tucked in bed Christmas eve night.  The young girl describes the smell of gingerbread on her mother, feeling her mother's tear fall on her face and the emotion of her mother fastening a locket on her daughter's neck.  A mother's emotion: the author had me from the opening. 

The children, for eight years, travel from orphanage to orphanage and learn quickly that they can only count on each other.  Even though Kate is only two years older than the middle sibling, she fully embraces the promise that she made to her mother, to take care of her siblings.  The reader will easily forget that Kate is only twelve and her siblings are ten and nine years of age.  During their struggles and longing for their parents, the reader learn of their personalities.  Twelve year old Kate is protective and carries the weight of the world on her shoulders.  Michael, at ten, is vulnerable, intelligent and fiercely interested in books and dwarfs.  Emma, at nine, is a fighter and is feisty.  The children will discover that they are chosen to find a magical book and will journey through time to possibly change the past and the future.  Their journey will allow the reader to witness the alliances they must build, the love that has been missing from their lives, their hurts and their dedication to each other.   This novel is part of a series and is a must read for both the youth and their parents.

So, reading this book has proved to be an opportunity for me to connect with my kid.  I enjoyed his daily question of what part of the book I was currently reading.  Of course, though, I want him to succeed in the competition, but don't want to take the joy out of the journey...... so here I go: I have put together some questions and answers to help my kid remember the book.  Don't read the chapter posts unless you don't care about spoilers.  Maybe,  this will be useful to other kids.  I, in no way, profess to have any analytical, literary nor education experience; this is all in fun.
Until next time....