Teachers Guide. Chasing the Moon. Penny Chamberlain ISBN: X 7.75, 256 pages AGES 8-13 $9.95

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1 enny Chamberlain ISBN: X 7.75, 256 pages AGES 8-13 $9.95 TO ORDER: Sono Nis ress or visit

2 Story Synopsis Twelve-year-old Kit Avery hasn t seen her father, Jack, in years. When Kit is forced to stay with him after her mother falls ill with tuberculosis, she is dismayed to see how far he s let the farm slip since she and her mother left. The only improvements are a new car and a sleek boat with a dock to match, down in the bay. Jack doesn t say much about how he earns his money, but it s pretty obvious that it isn t by farming. Kit wants to believe he goes night fishing, but there s not a shred of evidence to support his story not one fish scale, not even the smell of fish. There s something fishy going on, though. Kit s father always seems to have plenty of money, and he keeps a shiny new lock on the rickety barn door. With her father keeping unpredictable hours, Kit is left to her own devices. After she meets Caleb, a boy who has a troubled relationship with his own father, she must decide where to place her trust and, ultimately, learn to trust herself. As You Read As you read, think about ways in which difficult circumstances affect an individual s capacity for resourcefulness. Questions for Discussion 1. opens with Kit making her own way to her father s house. How does this foreshadow the nature of their relationship? 2. How does Kit s relationship with her mother evolve over the course of the novel? 3. The author describes several incidents that clearly indicate the troubled nature of Kit s parents marriage. Despite their differences, Kit longs for her parents to be reunited. Do you think her parents will try to patch things up? Why, or why not? 4. How does the author create a sense of place in this novel? 5. Toward the end of the story, Kit wonders why it was any more dangerous for her to go along on the rum-running expedition than it was for Caleb and her father. Does this make Kit a modern thinker, ahead of her time? Connecting Literature and Life 1. Government laws restricting access to alcohol created a strong market for illegally imported alcohol. How is the current movement of drugs across the Canada U.S. border the same as/different from the movement of alcohol during the 1920s? age 2 Sono Nis ress 2009

3 2. How have children s responsibilities within the family changed since the 1920s? 3. Kit has been warned to be careful about strangers while she is travelling from Nanaimo to Victoria and then to her father s farm on the Saanich eninsula. If Kit were making her first trip by herself today, what sorts of things would you warn her about? 4. The Great Orsini is an example of a sideshow performer from the days of small circuses and vaudeville theatres. Are there any modern equivalents to the Great Orsini? Have such things as reality TV shows and the Internet replaced the sideshow as a way to satisfy our curiosity about strange phenomena and different people in the world? Or will we always need magicians and fortune-tellers? 5. rohibition, or the banning of alcohol, lasted until 1933 in the United States. It has been blamed for helping to strengthen the crime underworld in the United States. Think about the modern war on drugs. Do you think it is preventing people from trying drugs? Or is it just putting money into criminals hands? How about the battle against obesity? Do you think banning soft drinks and junk food in schools will keep people from consuming these products? Can you see there being a sugar crime boss providing sweet snacks to kids? 6. What role should government play in controlling the activities of members of the public? Is acting in the best interests of citizens sufficient cause to restrict certain freedoms? For example, is it repressive or protective to have seatbelt laws, speed limits and restrictions on the availability of drugs, alcohol and gambling? Writing ractice Drugs and illegal immigrants are regularly smuggled across the border into the United States. Do some research and write a newspaper-style article about other smuggling activities that occur elsewhere in the world. lot 1. What purpose does the subplot involving Caleb play in this novel? 2. Identify three conflicts that directly affect Kit in the novel. Choose one and describe how this conflict is resolved. 3. All happy families are alike, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. So begins Anna Karenina, a novel by Leo Tolstoy. How does this quote relate to the family in? age 3 Sono Nis ress 2009

4 Writing ractice Imagine you are a newspaper reporter covering the arrest of Roy Olmstead. Write an article about this notorious rum-runner. Use information from the novel, the afterword, other factual resources and your imagination to create a believable account. Don t forget to answer the questions WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? WHY? and HOW? We are left at the end of the story knowing that Caleb and Kit like each other, but that Caleb must leave to follow his own life. Write another chapter to add to the end of. Will Kit and Caleb find each other again? Will Kit s parents get back together? How about the rum-runners: will Kit s father successfully keep from working for them again? Will Kit become a traditional wife and mother, or will she follow a different path? Character 1. Describe three ways in which characters change over the course of the novel. 2. Choose a scene in which there is a lot of dialogue. Act the scene out. Add or change dialogue to eliminate the need for any descriptive narrative. 3. is, by and large, realistic historical fiction. Why did the author choose to include references to fortune-telling, dreams, water divination and premonitions? Why do you think the author chose to make Caleb the character most closely aligned with these phenomena? 4. What does a character like Vivian add to the story? What does she reveal about Jack? Kit? 5. enny Chamberlain has infused her story with moral dilemmas for Kit. Should Kit support her father, no matter what he does? Or should she try to get him to change his ways and find a legal line of work? What about hiding Caleb on the farm? Should Kit have let Caleb s father know where he was? 6. How should Kit behave around Vivian? Is Vivian really care about Kit s father, or is she only looking after her own interests? Do you think it is realistic in 1924 for Kit, a 13-year-old girl, to stand up to an adult like Vivian? oint of View 1. is written in the third person subjective point of view with Kit Avery as the main point of view character. What are some of the advantages age 4 Sono Nis ress 2009

5 of writing in the third person? Choose a scene in which Kit and another character appear and rewrite the scene from the other character s perspective. Use either the first ( I ) or third person narrative form. Note how the story changes as the other character reveals information, thoughts or feelings that Kit may not know about. 2. An unreliable narrator is one that the reader understands is not relating events exactly the way they happened. When does Kit become an unreliable narrator? Writing ractice Toward the end of the novel Kit and her father receive letters from Kit s mother. Though the author has chosen to share the contents of the letter to Kit, the reader does not know what is in the letter to Kit s father. Write the letter you think Kit s mother wrote to her husband. Now, write his reply. Setting 1. The geography of the west coast of British Columbia and Washington State is important to the story told in. Find a map of the region and locate at least five places mentioned in the story. At least one of the locations should be in the United States. 2. In what way does the setting affect the plot, characters and theme of the novel? 3. Time period is considered to be an aspect of the setting. At the start of the book, the time period is not immediately identified. When did you first realize the story was not set in modern-day (i.e., early twenty-first century) British Columbia? Name at least ten things described by the author that help place the story sometime in the 1920s to early 1930s. Style 1. How would you describe enny Chamberlain s writing style? 2. What kinds of techniques does the author use to bring her characters to life? describe the setting? explore the underlying themes of the book? Theme 1. Is it possible for an individual to truly change? Defend your position using three examples from. 2. The end justifies the means. Do you agree with this statement? Support your position in a brief essay that uses examples drawn from. age 5 Sono Nis ress 2009

6 3. How does the ebb and flow of Kit s hope (that her mother will recover, that her parents will get back together) relate to her growth as a character? 4. Despite the historical facts of this story, there is a strong undercurrent of magic in. Even though she is suspicious about Caleb s sideshow magic and fortune-telling, Kit herself has premonitions visions of things that are going to happen. Identify one or two examples of supernatural influences in this story. Do you believe in second sight or water-witching? Are there some things that can t be explained with concrete scientific proof? Or will science eventually find explanations for all phenomena? British Columbia History Write a short biography on one of these historical figures: Jennie Butchart Roy Olmstead Johnny Schnarr Eric Sherbrooke Walker Changing Times 1. Kit s mother is a patient in a tuberculosis sanatorium that is closed to visitors. also mentions one of the Gulf Islands that was formerly a leper colony. Although it has been many decades since tuberculosis was a dreaded disease in our society, it is still around and continues to challenge medical knowledge. Modern strains of tuberculosis threaten to become resistant to available medicines and therapies. Do you think that tuberculosis sanatoriums will come back? If not tuberculosis, what other disease or disorder may necessitate such drastic measures as isolating the victims? 2. Set up a debate and present arguments for or against one of these statements: Confining patients to sanatoriums is the best way to control infectious disease. Confining patients to sanatoriums unreasonably restricts personal freedom. About the Author enny Chamberlain loves history and reading, so it s hardly surprising that her novels explore stories of the past. Her dream is to write stories compelling enough that young readers will become interested in the historical subjects that she finds so fascinating. enny s book is a story with origins in her childhood city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. enny recalls visiting the dock at the harbour with her father, who pointed out some of the low-profile boats with big engines and lots of age 6 Sono Nis ress 2009

7 storage space. Those, he would say, were probably rum-running boats. When enny s mother was young, she knew a girl whose father was a rum-runner the child always had the nicest dresses and the most money. The idea that rum-running was a major covert industry on Vancouver Island in the 1920s and 1930s intrigued enny. She was amazed that although there had been plenty of adventurous smugglers around only decades before, few had told their stories, choosing to remain tight-lipped about their shady dealings. Many years after first hearing about the smugglers, enny, in her capacity as a physiotherapist at a Victoria hospital, met a rumrunner. After hearing his incredible tales of daring and adventure, she knew she had found the subject for a new novel. enny loves entering the worlds she creates and immersing herself there for a time. This desire to bring her characters and the places they inhabit to life shines through in each carefully chosen detail and nuance of the scenes she crafts during her early morning writing sessions. Working full-time and caring for her family leaves little time for writing, which is why it can take four or five years for enny to write a new book. Also by enny Chamberlain Olden Days Locket Coming in 2010: Shack Island Summer Websites rohibition age 7 Sono Nis ress 2009

8 Just for Fun: Crossword uzzle Across 3. erson who predicts the future (answer includes a hyphen) 6. Home for farm animals 7. A crescent 9. Soft green plant eaten by cows 10. lace to tie a boat 11. Another word for pie crust 15. eople who sneak goods across the border 16. Illness that affects the lungs 17. Someone who performs tricks 18. Thieves who operate on water 19. Nanaimo is located on this land mass (2 words) 20. Vision of something that is about to happen 21. Special hospital for TB patients Down 1. A wife is married to a 2. Location of Kit's father's farm (2 words) 4. Wood used for building 5. Type of alcohol smuggled in 8. unch and Judy are 12. You wear these on your feet 13. The US state immediately south of British Columbia 14. Organs responsible for breathing age 8 Sono Nis ress 2009

9 Solution: 8 3 F 1 H O R T U N E - T E L 4 L E 5 R 6 B A R N 9 G 2 S S U U A B M 7 M O O N R A S S B I U N E 10 D O C K 11 E 16 T A S T R Y D R H 12 S 13 W 14 L H A 15 S M U G G L E R S U B E R C U L O S I S N S N E H 17 M A G I C I A N 18 G S I N I R A T E S 19 V A N C O U V E R I S L A N D 20 G R E M O N I T I O N L 21 S O A N A T O R I U M U A Across 3. erson who predicts the future (answer includes a hyphen) [FORTUNE-TELLER] 6. Home for farm animals [BARN] 7. A crescent [MOON] 9. Soft green plant eaten by cows [GRASS] 10. lace to tie a boat [DOCK] 11. Another word for pie crust [ASTRY] 15. eople who sneak goods across the border [SMUGGLERS] 16. Illness that affects the lungs [TUBERCULOSIS] 17. Someone who performs tricks [MAGICIAN] 18. Thieves who operate on water [IRATES] 19. Nanaimo is located on this land mass (2 words) [VANCOUVERISLAND] 20. Vision of something that is about to happen [REMONITION] 21. Special hospital for TB patients [SANATORIUM] Down 1. A wife is married to a [HUSBAND] 2. Location of Kit's father's farm (2 words) [SAANICHENINSULA] 4. Wood used for building [LUMBER] 5. Type of alcohol smuggled in [RUM] 8. unch and Judy are [UETS] 12. You wear these on your feet [SHOES] 13. The US state immediately south of British Columbia [WASHINGTON] 14. Organs responsible for breathing [LUNGS] age 9 Sono Nis ress 2009