Ida B Questions for Novel (for QL)

Literature Questions for Ida B (do the week of March 31-April 4)

1. Why does Ida B go to “talk” with the old tree when the young trees in her
family’s apple orchard tell her that hard times are headed her way?
Ida B goes to speak to the old tree because ________________________________ (p.13).
2. Ida B eats the same meal every day for breakfast—hot rolled oats with raisins and
milk, no sugar—and for lunch—peanut butter on one slice of bread, milk, and an
apple. What are her reasons for never varying her choices? (pp. 34-35). ________________ __________________________________________________________________
3. Why does Ida B feel so upset that Ms. Myers, her kindergarten teacher at the
Ernest B. Lawson Elementary School, wants her to go by the name Ida instead of
Ida B? (pages 44-45) Ida B is upset because Ida___________________
______________________________________________________.
4. Mama’s sickness brought about a lot of changes in Ida B’s life. What were some
of the changes, and how did she feel about them?d (pp. 66-67, 69, 72, 78, 81, 86-89) _______ _________________________________________________________________

5. Ms. Washington tries many subtle tactics to bring Ida B out of her shell. What
exactly does she do? What are some of Ms. Washington’s qualities that appeal to
Ida B? (107, 129-133)_________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

6. Ida B devises a game to play with Ronnie to help him learn his math facts. They
play the game for money. Ronnie loses money during the math game, but wins it
back during running races against Ida B. Ida B found a way to make Ronnie feel
proud of his strengths while at the same time improving his areas of weakness.
Have you ever helped a friend overcome a weakness? What did you do? How
did it work out? ____________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

7. Ida B felt so good after reading aloud to the class. She described the feeling as a
“…warm glow that was in my belly and arms and my legs and my head and
wouldn’t go away” (p. 152). Have you ever done something that gave you a
feeling like that? What was it? How would you describe the way it made you
feel? ______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

8. Daddy tells Ida B that, “We don’t own the earth. We are the earth’s caretakers.”
Ida B answers his comment by saying, “I think the earth takes care of us, too” (pp.
29-32). What does she mean? ___________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________

9. Ida B has all sorts of good feelings after Ms. Washington has her read out loud to
her class, but she holds back on sharing those good feelings with her parents.
What does she think might happen if she tells them? Does she feel better or
worse after sharing some, but not all, of the wonderfulness of reading out loud? (pp. 159-160)
_________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________

10. At the end of the story, Ida B says, “And I just sat on the porch looking at all of
that land and the mountain and the trees and the stars that weren’t mine at all, and
never would be. But in some ways they’d always belong to me, and I couldn’t
imagine not belonging to them” (p. 245). What does she mean when she says
this? _____________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________.

11. Ida B says, “…good plans are the best way to maximize fun, avoid disaster, and,
possibly, save the world” (p. 38). Ida B makes a lot of plans throughout the
book. What are some of the plans she makes? Do they achieve these ends? Why
or why not? (20-21, 86-89) _______________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________.

12. What do you imagine will happen to Ida B after the last chapter? Will she
continue at Ernest B. Lawson Elementary? Will she make friends? What will her
relationship with Mama and Daddy be like? __________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

13. Claire tells Ida B that she is mean. Do you think Ida B does mean things? Is she
a mean person? What does she do to make things right with Claire? With the old
tree? Have you ever done something mean, then tried to make it right? How did
it work out? _______________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

14. What do Evan and Ida Applewood, Ida B’s parents, do right in raising Ida B? Do
they make mistakes in raising her? Was it a good idea to home school her? Was
it a good decision to send her back to school? __________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________.