The Danger Box by Blue Balliett
Genre: Mystery
Summary: The game is on! There are four players and a box with a secret treasure. Zoomy, player five who is not part of the game ends up finding the treasure box in his grandparent’s garage. Zoomy lives in the one street town of Three Oaks, Michigan with his grandparents. He likes to keep lists, suffers from Pathological Myopia, and is in search of a true friend. When Zoomy finds the box, the adventure begins and his life is about to change. He needs to research about the contents in the box, discovers the power of working with a friend, must keep many new secrets about the box and his father, who he has never known but is back in town. All of the while, Player Four is in search of the box that he lost and he will do ANYTHING to get it back. Zoomy must work quickly, carefully, and secretively to discover the real treasure of the treasure.
Literature Circle Theme Ideas: Mystery, secrets, science, or friendships
Approximate Literature Circle Meetings: 4 (301 pages)
Literature Circle Questions:
- Describe “the game”. (Pgs.1, 19, 27-28)
- Who is Zoomy? Who is raising Zoomy? Where do they live? Describe his life and their hometown in one paragraph. (Pgs.1 – 40)
- Zoomy’s eyes have what is called Pathological Myopia. What is Pathological Myopia? (Pg. 20)
- Describe the situation when Buckeye shows up at the house. (Pgs. 44-52)
- What are worry crumbs? Do you have any worry crumbs in your life? Describe some of your worry crumbs. (Pgs.58-61)
- Why does Zoomy keep lists in his notebook? Do you keep a notebook with your writing? If so, compare it to Zoomy’s notebook.
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- What does Palindrome mean? (Pgs.79-81)
- What does Buckeye leave in the garage? Where did he get it?
- Describe what’s in the box. Predict why the treasure is important. (Pg.93-95)
- What happens when Buckeye shows up at the library? Describe how Zoomy feels. (Pg.98-103)
- List some of the words that Zoomy finds in the notebook. Can you put these words into categories? (Pg.107-128)
- Describe Lorrol. (Pg.78-140)
- Describe Player Four in two sentences. What does Player Four want? (Pgs.124-126)
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- Who is Charles Darwin? Why are Zoomy and Lorrol researching Charles Darwin? (Pgs.153-160)
- Why does Zoomy hide the notebook? Is it a good hiding place? Where do you hide things that you don’t want anyone to find? (Pgs.183-212)
- What happens to the notebook and the family store? (Pgs.183-212)
- What are some Gam and Gump sayings? List three and tell what they mean.
- Who is writing the Gas Gazette? Why? (Pgs.212-end)
- What does Zoomy and Lorrol find while investigating Player Four? (Pgs.222-237)
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- Who’s notebook does Zoomy and Lorrol have? Why is it so important to history? Social Studies connection: Is it a primary and secondary source? Which source is more important to history? Explain your opinion. (Pgs.245-247)
- What does the Chamberlain family do with the land where the store once stood? Why is it so successful? (Pgs. 261-264)
- How do Zoomy and Lorrol get the notebook back? (Pgs.273-286)
- What happens to Player Four?
- What happens to Buckeye?
- Where does Zoomy and Lorrol send the notebook? Explain what happens as a result?
Miscellaneous Questions/Writing Prompts:
- Which character are you most like from the story? In two paragraphs, compare yourself to that character with similarities and differences. Be sure to use compare and contrast transition words.
- What would you do if you found something important to history? Explain.
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