| 1. | Martha's last name is "Glimmer." The word glimmer can mean either "an unsteady light" or "a faint suggestion," like a "glimmer of hope." Which definition do you think suits Martha? Why? |
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| 2. | Why do you think Martha's father lets Hildy Swoon take care of things at Martha's house, even though Hildy doesn't care much for children? |
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| 3. | Do you think Hildy Swoon purposely ruined Martha's mother's yellow shawl? Why? |
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| 4. | Why do you think Martha's father suddenly seems so different at the end of the book? |
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| 5. | Would you like to live in the town of Oak Grove as it was before the flood? Why or why not? |
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| 6. | Have you ever been in a flood? Or had a flooded basement? If so, what was it like?
If not, how do you think you would feel, especially about water? Would you be fearful like the people of Oak Grove? |
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| 7. | If you didn't live somewhere where there might be floods, there might be tornadoes or earthquakes or something else instead. Can people really control nature the way the people of Oak Grove try to prevent bad things from happening? Why or why not? |
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| 8. | What did you think about the eating habits of Eli and Trevor (that is, Eel and Trout)? |
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| 9. | Why do you think Eli and Trevor's parents feared their sons being near the ocean? |
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| 10. | Why do you think Eli and Trevor's parents painted over the boys' room after they had painted it blue? What harm would it have done to leave it blue? |
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| 11. | Why do you think Martha likes Trevor and Eli so much, when other people don't? |
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| 12. | What did you think about the story of how Charlie and Kate McGill came to adopt Eli and Trevor? |
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| 13. | Do you know anyone who has webbed fingers or toes or some other physical difference that makes them special? If so, tell us about it! |
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| 14. | What do you think about Martha, Eli, and Trevor running away? Was this a good idea? Why or why not? |
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| 15. | Martha, Eli, and Trevor say they're not "runaways," they are instead "run-tos." Does calling it something else make it feel different to them? Do you think it would make their parents feel different about them running away? |
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| 16. | The night they run away, Martha, Eel, and Trout have strange dreams. Trout dreams about the ocean every night, though, even though he thinks he has never been to the ocean. Do you have any strange dreams that repeat again and again? What are they about? |
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| 17. | Richard Grady is a bully. Why do you think he has started to change by the end of the story? |
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| 18. | What clues did the author give us that Jeannette Morton, the bakery owner, might somehow be a better fit in Martha and her father's life than Hildy Swoon, the neighbor who cooked and cleaned for them after Martha's mother's death? |
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| 19. | What did you think about the pictures in this story? |
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| 20. | Have you ever wanted to run away from home like Martha, Eel, and Trout? If so, where would you go? And what would you do?
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| 21. | Were you happy or sad that Eel and Trout moved away at the end of the story? |
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| 22. | Do you like stories with a little bit of magic or magical ideas in them? Why or why not? |
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| 23. | If you were to continue the story, what would you have happen? |
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| 24. | Would you have liked this to be a longer story? Why or why not? |
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