Mary and the Trail of Tears
Twelve-year-old Mary and her family belong to this Indigenous American tribe.
Who are the Cherokee?
Vivy is determined to join a Little League team to play this sport.
(Answer: What is baseball?)
What is baseball?
In The Lion of Mars, ten-year-old Bell has spent his entire life living inside a dome on this planet.
What is Mars?
Twelve-year-old Hazel stows away on this famous, supposedly unsinkable ocean liner in 1912.
What is the Titanic?
Room 117 is home to a group of misfits given this harsh nickname by the rest of the school.
Who are the Unteachables?
Mary's family is forced to leave their ancestral home in Georgia due to this 1830 federal law.
What is the Indian Removal Act?
Vivy specializes in throwing this rare pitch, which flies with very little spin and tricks hitters.
What is a knuckleball?
In A Rover's Story, the main character Res (short for Resilience) is this type of machine created by NASA.
What is a Mars rover / robot?
Hazel sneaks aboard the ship because she hopes to earn money in America to help save her family's this.
What is their home / farm?
The teacher assigned to Room 117, Mr. Kermit, is counting down the days until this milestone event.
What is his retirement?
Mary relies on this beloved family pet for comfort during the long, harsh journey west.
What is her dog / animal companion?
Vivy expresses her feelings and thoughts through writing letters to this real-life Major League Pitcher.
Who is VJ Capello?
In The Lion of Mars, Bell and the kids must venture out to contact other countries' settlements after the adults contract a mysterious this.
What is a virus / illness?
Hazel uses this specific talent and observational skill to navigate the ship without getting caught by crew members.
What is her memory / eye for detail / sketching?
The students in Room 117 unexpectedly rally together to enter this annual academic competition.
What is the Science Fair?
The forced march gets its name, the "Trail of Tears," because thousands of people died from cold, starvation, and this.
What is disease / illness?
Vivy faces extra challenges on and off the field because she is on this developmental spectrum.
What is autism / the autistic spectrum?
In A Rover's Story, Res begins to develop human-like emotions thanks to the letters written to him by this scientist's daughter.
Who is Rania / Hazel?
Hazel makes friends with a young porter named Charlie, who works in this lower-class area of the ship.
What is third class / steerage?
This female student joins Room 117 simply because of a mistake in her schedule, not because of her grades or behavior.
Who is Kiana?
Mary holds onto traditional Cherokee stories and these handcrafted items to keep her culture alive along the journey.
What are baskets / traditional crafts?
Vivy's mother is initially hesitant to let her play because she worries about Vivy getting this type of head injury.
What is a concussion / getting hit by a ball?
Both stories focus on this major obstacle: communication delays caused by the massive distance between Earth and Mars.
What is a signal delay / lost communication?
When the ship hits the iceberg, Hazel uses her knowledge of the ship's secret passages to help do this.
What is guide passengers to safety / find lifeboats?
Mr. Kermit's attitude toward teaching changes when he sees his students standing up to this unfair principal.
Who is Principal Vargas / Dr. Schulz?