|
|
|
Chapter 1: Kira the Weird
Question: CHARACTERIZATION is a big word, but all it means is the way we describe the characters in a book. There are two kinds of characterization, EXTERIOR—the way we see a character with our eyes or our other senses, and INTERIOR—the way a character thinks and feels. What are some ways we can describe Kira in chapter 1? What is her EXTERIOR CHARACTERIZATION—the way she looks and sounds? And what is her INTERIOR CHARACTERIZATION—the way she thinks and feels? Trivia: Sophia Masters was originally named Olivia, but our best friends also have a tall blonde daughter named Olivia, and she’s the nicest girl, and my daughter Fiona’s best friend. So, once I realized the connection, I changed the name to Sophia. |
|
|
Chapter 2: Stolen Away
Question: The SETTING of a story is the TIME when a story happens and it’s also the LOCATION where a story happens. In chapter 2, we get a lot of details about the outside and the inside of Kira’s house. Can you describe the setting of chapter 2 using some of those details? Why do you think the setting inside the house is so surprising after we see the outside of the house? What about the setting makes Kira so worried? Trivia: Kira’s spelling bee medal was inspired by my wife, Vanessa. Vanessa won the elementary school spelling bee in our hometown of Bridgeton, and they gave her a medal that we still have today. When I was in school, I lost the spelling bee on the word “safari”. I spelled it S-A-R-F-A-R-I. |
|
|
Chapter 3: Zombies Stink!
Question: One of the things that we encourage readers to do, is to make REAL WORLD CONNECTIONS when they’re reading a story. That means whenever a character, or a setting, or an action reminds you of something, you make a note of that connection in your head. It may remind you of a television show or another story, or something you experienced yourself in real life. What are some REAL WORLD connections you can make in chapter 3? Have you watched any cartoons with zombies in them? What about Snugg? Does he remind you of any other stuffed teddy bears? And what about that smell? What’s the worst smell you’ve ever smelled in real life? Trivia: One of the real world connections I make with Snugg is to the Marvel Superhero character of Wolverine, especially in chapter 3 when he shows the zombies his claws and they run away. |
|
|
Chapter 4: Rainbows and Unicorns
Question: Chapter 4 ends in a cliffhanger. Kira cries out, “Oh no!” but we don’t really know what that’s about. It’s left up to our imagination. So, one of the skills we teach in my school is PREDICTION. You make a prediction whenever you try to guess what might happen next in a story. Can you try to predict why Kira might scream “Oh no”? Did she see something or hear something in her dad’s office? Did she smell something? What are some clues that could help you make your prediction? Trivia: The original title of this book was Kira the Rainbow Unicorn Princess, but everyone got confused thinking that Kira was actually a unicorn instead of a girl. That’s why we changed the title to Kira the Rainbow Princess, and we gave her the title, “The Lady of the Unicorn Spire”. |
|
|
Chapter 5: Ben the Brave
Question: When we talk about plot in a book or story, we’re actually talking about the order of events. In other words, what’s happening. In chapter 5 of Kira the Rainbow Princess, we reach a point in our plot that we call the RISING ACTION. In the rising action, life gets more difficult or complicated for our characters. What are some examples of the RISING ACTION in chapter 5? How does Kira’s life suddenly get more difficult or complicated? Can you make a prediction about how she might solve these new problems? Trivia: I originally wrote Kira the Rainbow Princess for my daughter Fiona, but I wanted my older son, Aidan, to enjoy the story as well. In chapter 5, I created the character of Ben the Brave so that Aidan would have someone in the book he could identify with as he read the story. It was important to me that Kira the Rainbow Princess wasn’t just a “girl” book or a “boy” book, but a book that both my kids would enjoy. |
|
|
Chapter 6: Trapped!
Question: One of the most important parts of any story is CONFLICT. Conflict happens whenever there’s a problem. It might be between two characters. Or between a character and nature. Or the conflict might be inside a character’s own head. And just like with characterization that we talked about in chapter 1, there are two kinds of Conflict. EXTERNAL CONFLICT—those are conflicts that happen outside of our own thoughts, like if someone is walking home through a blizzard or trying to win a race. And there are INTERNAL CONFLICTS—those are the conflicts we feel in our head and in our heart when we need to make difficult decisions. So, what are some of the conflicts we see in chapter 6? Can you find an EXTERNAL CONFLICT—something on the outside, maybe between two characters—and an INTERNAL CONFLICT—something inside Kira’s own thoughts? What do those conflicts teach us about Kira? Trivia: I always knew that I wanted Kira to use magic, and I wanted her magic to be tied to the colors of the rainbow. Once she got trapped on the roof with Ben and Snugg, flying seemed like a great way to escape and a really cool power. The only question was, what would flying look like for Kira. So my wife’s name is Vanessa, and the meaning of Vanessa is butterfly, and once I realized that, butterfly wings seemed like the perfect choice. |
|
|
Chapter 7: Piece of Pizza
Question: One of the things that was important to me as I wrote this book, is I wanted Kira to learn, and grow, and change. There’s a special word for a character that changes from the beginning of a story to the end. We call that person a DYNAMIC CHARACTER. In chapter 7, we see that Kira has already started to change as a character. Think about Kira back in chapter 1, when she’s the nervous, shy girl at the spelling bee and Kira in chapter 7, sitting with Ben and Snugg in the restaurant after they escape from the zombies. What are some important ways that we see Kira changing already as a character? Trivia: I thought it would be funny to name the restaurant Piece of Pizza because when you say all those words together, they almost sound the same, like you’re repeating yourself. When I was writing Kira the Rainbow Princess, our local pizza shop was named Venice, and that’s why Piece of Pizza is decorated with paintings of the Venice canals. |
|
|
Chapter 8: To the Dump
Question: Chapter 8 ends with another surprise! Kira, Ben, and Snugg meet a new character, but maybe some of you already guessed what was going to happen. If you were able to predict the meeting at the end of this chapter, it’s because you were reading clues earlier in the story. When an author leaves clues about what’s going to happen in a story, we call that FORESHADOWING. It might be something that a character says or does, or it might be something like the setting. What do you think are some of the clues that foreshadow this meeting at the end of chapter 8? Were you surprised by the meeting? Or did you see it coming from a mile away? Trivia: The title of Chapter 8, “To the Dump”, is a nod to my own childhood and my Uncle Mike. When I was a kid and something needed to be taken to our local dump, he would sing that phrase over and over (probably like a lot of people) to the tune of the William Tell Overture. So, when I knew that our characters were going to the dump, I had to use the phrase in the chapter title. |
|
|
Chapter 9: Fred, the Zombie
Question: One of the things we can do when we read a story, is we can ANALYZE a character’s choices. Do we agree with what a certain character is doing and saying? Do we disagree? Why? Are there clues in the story that make us think one way or another? In chapter 9, Snugg makes a very important decision. He brings Kira and Ben to see Fred the Zombie. So let’s ANALYZE Snugg’s decision. Do we agree or disagree with Snugg’s decision to trust Fred the Zombie? What evidence or clues help us think one way or the other? And then, what do we think that Kira should do? Should she listen to Ben and try to escape, or should she listen to Snugg and trust that Fred is safe and trying to help them? Trivia: Fiona is the person who named Fred,the Zombie. It actually happened years before I wrote the book, when we would drive in the car, Fiona would talk about a zombie named Fred. We thought it was the funniest name possible for a zombie, and so from that, we decided to give all the zombies short, straightforward names like Gus, Bob, or Frank. |
|
|
Chapter 10: Time for Tea
Question: One of my favorite things about Fred the Zombie is the IRONY of his character. IRONY is when a character says something or does something and it’s the complete opposite of what we think that character is going to say or what that character is going to do. So, think about everything we know about zombies. Think about how they talk and how they act, and now, think about ways that Fred is the complete opposite. What are some examples of IRONY in this chapter especially about Fred the Zombie? How is he the opposite of what we would expect from a zombie? Trivia: My real world connection for Fred the Zombie is related to his voice. Whenever I hear Fred speak inside my head, he always sounds like the actor Paul Bettany. In addition to playing countless other roles, Bettany appears as the superhero Vision and the voice of Tony Stark’s computer assistant Jarvis in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That makes Bettany the second superhero connection in my book. |
|
|
Chapter 11: A Midnight Snack
Question: In a book or story, a THEME is one of the lessons that we learn as the reader. In chapter 11, we start to look at one of the major THEMES of the novel: Accepting people and loving people who are different. In this chapter, Fred learns that he can be a good zombie even if he’s different. Can you write about a time that you felt different from your friends or the other kids in your class? How did that make you feel? Or, if you can’t think of a time when you felt different, what are some things we can do or say to let other people know that we accept them and love them? Trivia: Fred’s favorite food is cauliflower because he thinks it looks like brains, but I don’t like cauliflower at all. My favorite food is ice cream! |
|
|
Chapter 12: A Morning Walk
Question: When we read a book or a story, sometimes we see patterns, where the same things happen over and over. There’s a special word for those patterns called ARCHETYPES. In chapter 12, Kira and her friends go on a journey—they walk from Fred’s house to the zombie portal. This idea of a hero going on a journey (or a trip) is an ARCHETYPE. Can you think of another story where the main character needs to take a trip or go on a journey? How is that story similar to Kira the Rainbow Princess? How are the two stories different? Trivia: I dressed up Fred the Zombie to look like Kira’s teacher Mr. Westcott on purpose. One of my favorite movies growing up was The Wizard of Oz, and I love how the characters Dorothy meets in Oz remind her of the people she already knew in Kansas. Having Fred remind Kira of Mr. Westcott is my way of creating the same kind of moment in my book. |
|
|
Chapter 13: The Magic Portal
Question: If you all remember, when we talk about the plot of a story, we’re talking about the order of events—or the way things happen from one chapter, to the next, to the next. In chapter 13, we reach a moment in the plot known as a CLIMAX. The CLIMAX is a turning point. It’s a moment when our main characters will either win or lose. For Kira and her friends, if they get caught by the zombie guards, she won’t be able to rescue her parents. If she gets away from the guards, she still has a chance. So, as a reader, what were you feeling during this CLIMAX? Did you think Kira and her friends might actually get captured? Or were you confident she would make it to the zombie portal? What were some details in the story that made you think and feel one way or the other? Trivia: This was actually one of the hardest chapters to write in the book, because I knew there would be guards in front of the zombie portal. It was also important to me that Kira was the one who figured out how to get past the zombies. I was really stuck until I remembered the Purple Butterfly Spell. Then I went back and added the muddy field to the previous chapter and the rest was history. |
|
|
Chapter 14: Snoozeberry Fields
Question: We have already ANALYZED the character of Snugg in a previous chapter. Now let’s ANALYZE the character of Kira. In chapter 14, Kira loses her temper when Fred won’t let her eat one of the Snoozeberries. Do we agree or disagree with Kira losing her temper at Fred? Does Kira’s reaction to Fred change the way we think and feel about her as a character? What about her apology later in the chapter? How does Kira’s apology change the way we think and feel about her as a character? Trivia: Snoozeberries were a fun invention. I knew we needed a fruit that could put people to sleep, and that’s where I got the word “snooze”. Then a Snoozeberry reminded me of the Snozzberry wallpaper in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I decided to use the seeds in medicine because when I was a kid, liquid Dimetapp would knock me out cold, and finally, I titled the chapter “Snoozeberry Fields” as a nod to the Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever”. |
|
|
Chapter 15: The Westwood Steam Bandits
Question: One of my favorite characters to write in Kira the Rainbow Princess is the leader of the Westwood Steam Bandits, Pike. So let’s review what we already talked about with CHARACTERIZATION. Remember, CHARACTERIZATION is just a fancy word for describing the characters in a story. There are two kinds of CHARACTERIZATION, external—details we can see about a character—and internal—the way a character thinks and feels. What are some ways we can describe the character of Pike? Think about his external characterization—what he looks like—and also his internal characterization—the way he thinks and feels. Trivia: For whatever reason, messed up teeth have always given me the chills. That’s why, when I was writing the villain Pike, I knew I wanted to emphasize his crowded teeth. His teeth remind me almost exactly of The Joker, from the 2004 animated series The Batman. |
|
|
Chapter 16: Delivery
Question: Let’s review the idea of REAL WORLD CONNECTIONS. Remember, a REAL WORLD CONNECTION happens whenever a character, or a setting, or an action in a story reminds you of something from the real world. It may remind you of a television show or another story, or something you experienced yourself in real life. What are some REAL WORLD CONNECTIONS you can make in chapter 16? Maybe you can make a connection to Ben, or Pike, or the pizza. Maybe you can make a connection to falling asleep in the middle of talking. What do the characters and actions in Chapter 16 remind you of from the real world? Trivia: I titled this chapter “Delivery” not only because Ben becomes the first pizza delivery man in the Rainbow Kingdom, but also because his quick thinking “delivers” Kira and her friends from captivity. |
|
|
Chapter 17: The Truth
Question: In books and stories, authors will use SYMBOLS. A SYMBOL is when one thing actually represents or stands for something else. In chapter 17, I use Kira’s nightmare as a SYMBOL for some of the things she’s thinking and feeling. What do you think Kira is thinking and feeling during her dream? What are some details in the dream that might be SYMBOLS for what Kira’s really thinking and feeling about her parents? Trivia: One of the major influences on my writing is a series of young adult books called The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. In Alexander’s novels, a group called the Fair Folk have hidden way-stations throughout Prydain. This served as the inspiration for the hidden Teddy Bear Outpost. |
|
|
Chapter 18: The Zombie Kingdom
Question: There’s a lot of FORESHADOWING, or clues about what might happen next, in chapter 18, but when the chapter ends, we’re left with another cliffhanger. We really don’t know what’s going to happen to Kira and her friends. Try and make a PREDICTION about what you think is going to happen with Kira, Ben, Fred, and Snugg. What details or clues in the chapter could help you make your prediction? Trivia: In chapter 18, we meet a zombie named Doug. Doug is one of my favorite characters in this book, but when I was first planning the novel, I had no idea he would be a character at all. He was a complete surprise because I realized we needed someone to speak for this group of zombies. Doug also happens to be the name of my brother-in-law, and we thought it would be funny if this zombie was named after him. |
|
|
Chapter 19: King Bill
Question: Let’s review the idea of CONFLICT. If you remember what we said before, conflict happens whenever there’s a problem in the story, and there are lots of problems in chapter 19. We also said there are two kinds of conflict. EXTERNAL CONFLICTS happen outside of a character’s thoughts. So they’re problems between two characters, or between a character and nature. INTERNAL CONFLICTS are usually when a character has to make a difficult decision. So, what are some of the conflicts in chapter 19? Can you find an external conflict and an internal conflict? What do you think Kira’s going to do to solve these problems? Trivia: When we decided to use the staring contest in chapter 19, it was all thanks to my son, Aidan. When he was little, he would challenge anybody—even complete strangers—to a staring contest, and then he would open his eyes as wide as possible. We thought that would be a fun, and unique way to have one of the zombies challenge the king. |
|
|
Chapter 20: Our Last Hope
Question: We talked before about DYNAMIC CHARACTERS, and how they change during the course of a book or story. The character of Kira is very different by the end of this book than the Kira we saw at the beginning or even the middle. Describe some ways that Kira is different at the end of the story. What do you think are some of the major events in the story that helped Kira to grow and change? Trivia: I knew from the beginning that this book would end with a spelling bee. It’s the reason I used a spelling bee in the very first chapter, too. What I couldn’t figure out, at least not right away, was how Kira would get around King Bill’s cheating. That’s when I realized we could use alternate spellings. I had to go back to the beginning of the book and add the sequence of Kira spelling “gray” with an “e” so that she could use that same trick later on with King Bill. |
|
|
Chapter 21: Long Live the Queen
Question: Let’s review the idea of THEME. If you remember, a THEME is one of the lessons that we learn as the reader. I think there are lots of THEMES in Kira the Rainbow Princess. What’s one lesson you learned from the characters and their adventures in this book? How do you think you could use that lesson in your own life? Trivia: Believe it or not, Kira the Rainbow Princess is also influenced by A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. One of my favorite parts of that series is the character of Daenerys Targaryen collecting different titles as the story progresses. I wanted to do the same thing with Kira, so at the end of this first book, she’s picked up her first new title. She is now: Princess Kira the First, Defender of the Kingdoms, Lady of the Unicorn Spire, Queen of the Zombies, and Heiress to the Rainbow Throne. |
|