Author: Sarah Masters Buckey
Pages 140 (Plus a Looking Back section)
Summary: Marie-Grace is on a steamboat traveling down the Mississippi river with her father when she meets a girl named Wilhelmina Newman. Wilhelmina's father was a prospector who discovered gold and was returning to the family so that they could build a new farm together, but before he could return, he fell ill. Wilhelmina had traveled to see her ill father, but before she could reach him, he died. Wilhelmina's father has left her and her brothers enough gold to start the farm their family dreamed of and remain together as a family. The problem is, her father has hidden the gold so that it would be safe from thieves. Willhelmina's father left her clues as to the location of the gold, but she isn't sure what they mean, or even if they are clues, since all the clues are hidden in nursery rhymes.
Marie-Grace meets Wilhelmina when she boards the steamboat that Marie-Grace and her father are on. Willhelmina doesn't have any money nor anyone to look after her, but Marie-Grace comes to her rescue and offers to share her cabin with Willhelmina. Slowly, Wilhelmina opens up to Marie-Grace and shares her secret. Marie-Grace agrees to help Wilhelmina unravel the clues and search for the gold, but they'll have to be quick, because someone else on the boat is looking for the hidden gold, too! Will Marie-Grace be able to help Wilhelmina solve the mystery before it's too late?
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Creating A book club is a great activity you can do with a friend or two. Book club meetings are lots of fun; they give you a chance to talk about a good book and share your ideas and feelings with friends.
There are several different types of questions that you can write for your book club. Each type of question will give you different things to talk about.
The first type of question is a direct reading question. This type of question asks you to find information in the book. Sometimes teachers give these types of questions on a quiz to see if you remembered what you read. You can write your own direct reading questions by using these phrases to start:
Who is…
What is…
Where were...
When did…
What does…
Define…
Name…
List…
For instance, for the book The Hidden Gold I might ask the following questions:
Who is Wilhelmina?
Name the riddles that might be clues.
Where were Marie-Grace and Wilhelmina when the clues were stolen?
List the possible suspects.
Define a Spider.
Create a few of these questions to test your memory of what you read. Does everyone in your book club remember? If not, who can find the answer in the book?
The next type of question you can pose in the book club is an interpretive question. This type of question requires the reader to think about what she read and apply it to something she already knows. It might take some reading between the lines or putting two and two together to answer this type of question. You can write your own interpretive questions by using these phrases to start:
Summarize…
Retell in your own words…
Why does…
Explain…
Compare…
Give reasons why…
How did…
Conclude…
What do you think…
What would you do if…
Why?
Solve…
Prove…
Predict…
Evaluate…
What if…
For instance, for the book The Hidden Gold I might ask the following questions:
What would you do if you had some gold to hide for a loved one?
Predict what type of changes are in store for Wilhelmina when she returns to her family.
Evaluate the way Marie-Grace followed the boat's rules.
What do you think will happen to Marie-Grace on the next part of her trip?
Book clubs work best when you plan what you’d like to do. Do you want to write all of the questions yourself? Would you like your friends to each share the responsibility and come to the club with a list of questions to share? Do you want to read a few chapters of the text and then meet to discuss those chapters, or would you rather meet once everyone has read the entire book?
For instance, for the book The Hidden Gold I might ask the following questions:
Explain why Marie-Grace crosses Sister Catherine off the suspect list but not Monsieur Andre'.
Give reasons why Marie-Grace finds Mr. Bold suspecious.
How did Marie-Grace save Annabelle? Wilhelmina?
Compare Marie-Grace's lifestyle to Wilhelmina's.
Explain why Wilhelmina is at first unwilling to accept Marie-Grace's help.
The third type of question you can pose for your book club is an application question. This type of question asks you to apply what you've learned to another example or to your own life. Teachers often give these types of questions as essay topics, but they can be fun bookclub questions since everyone will have a different answer! You can write your own application questions by using these phrases to start:
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