The School Story

Chapters 1-6

Reading Check

1. The Cheater (Chapter 1)

2. Cassandra Day (Chapter 5)

Short Answer

1. Natalie wants her mother to have someone to talk to after her father’s death. (Chapter 1)

2. Natalie did not want her mom to read the books that her dad used to read to her so Natalie can remember how he read them. (Chapter 2)

3. Natalie believes using a pen name would be lying to her mom. (Chapter 5)

Chapters 7-9

Reading Check

1. Hannah’s boss (Chapter 7)

2. Sherry Clutch (Chapter 9)

Short Answer

1. The manuscripts sit unread for months and are then judged by just a few pages. (Chapter 7)

2. Zoe sees how Natalie wrote her feelings about her late father into the book’s story. (Chapter 8)

3. Natalie cares about Zoe as a friend and wants to support her. (Chapter 9)

Chapters 10-12

Reading Check

1. Natalie and Zoe’s 6th Grade English teacher (Chapter 10)

2. Zee Zee Reisman (Chapter 11)

Short Answer

1. She worries she will get in trouble with her job. (Chapter 12)

2. Zoe threatens to get a different teacher involved. (Chapter 12)

3. Ms. Clayton feels brave. (Chapter 12)

Chapters 13-15

Reading Check

1. The Message Waiting light is off (Chapter 13)

2. Wednesday (Chapter 15)

Short Answer

1. Letha pretends to know the Sherry Clutch Literary Agency and assigns the manuscript to Hannah Nelson. (Chapter 13)

2. Hannah worries the novel will make Natalie sad about her father’s absence. (Chapter 14)

3. Finding a new island is a metaphor for how Hannah feels excited about discovering a new, talented author. (Chapter 15)

Chapters 16-18

Reading Check

1. Letha Springfield (Chapter 16)

2. Tom Morton, the president of Shipley Junior Books (Chapter 17)

3. Natalie’s Uncle Fred (Chapter 18)

Short Answer

1. Discovering a new author would have helped advance Hannah’s career. (Chapter 16)

2. Ms. Clayton wants Zoe to negotiate, bluff, and play games with the publishing company. (Chapter 16)

3. Ms. Clayton worries she’s going to get in trouble. (Chapter 18)

Chapters 19-20

Reading Check

1. Two advance reader copies of her book (Chapter 19)

2. She suggests a tour of the publishing company (Chapter 20)

Short Answer

1. They get to know each other through their notes about the book. (Chapter 19)

2. The news story about the book makes it a huge success, which advances Natalie as a writer, Zoe as an agent, Hannah as an editor, and Ms. Clayton as a popular teacher. (Chapter 20)

3. Natalie believes Zoe did most of the work in getting the book published. (Chapter 20)