Pizza and Pages Book Club: Week 1
A Book Discussion Project by Ryann Uden for LIS404LE, Spring 2005

Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan
Synopsis / Discussion Questions / Bibliography / Back to Book List

Synopsis:

    Jake's reputation as a delinquent always precedes him and the exaggerated stories of the "bad kid" give him the perfect opportunity to act and look the part.  He's been thrown out of school after school and the last stop before juvenile detention is the "Creative Academy," a school designed by one very unusual family, the Applewhites.  Each member of this extraordinary family is an artist (writer, dancer, sculptor, etc.), except for E. D.  Since she and Jake are the same age, they get paired up when he first joins the school and this threatens to disrupt her life and her very organized curriculum plan.  Her father decides to direct a "rainbow" production of The Sound of Music and soon a television documentary is planned about the family artists, all except E. D., of course.  She and Jake both feel invisible when this story begins, but as they each develop and discover their own talents, they come to play a pivotal role in the show!  They both prove especially helpful when the show is canceled and a new stage has to be built at the Creative Academy!  The show must go on!

    This funny, heartwarming, and inspirational book has won many awards, including the Newbery Honor Award.

Discussion Questions:

1.  No one could ever tell Jake Semple that words didn't have power." (p. 7)
    What do you think of this statement?  What kind of power do the various labels and rumors that precede Jake's arrival have? (Bad kid, fire-starter, Jake's cursing, etc.).

2.  Did you like how we heard the story from both E. D. and Jake?  Why or why not?

3.  "The most important thing you're going to learn while you're here is who you are and what you're made of." (p. 37)
     Is this how you think of your own school?  Do you think E. D. and Jake both accomplish this at their school?

4.  Would it be easier or harder to give yourself your own grades?

5.  What sort of things would you study at the Applewhites?

6.  Why are Jake, Destiny, and Winston all perfect for each other?  How is it that Jake is able to fit into this unique family?

7.  "The Jake he knew, the Jake he had always been, was disappearing.  And there was nothing—nobody—to put in his place."  (p. 87). 
    What do you think this means?  Why did Jake wear his hair they way he did? 

8.  Both Jake and E. D. say that they feel invisible.  At what point do each of them stop feeling invisible?  What happens to change their feelings?

9.  What do you think gives Jake, E. D., and Destiny joy?

10.  What did you think of Randolph's color-blind casting?

11.  What do you predict will happen next in the story?  Do you think Jake survived the Applewhites?

Bibliography and Additional Resources:

 Book Discussion Groups for Kids at Multnomah County Library:  Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan.  (2004).  Last accessed May 4, 2005, from http://www.multcolib.org/talk/guides-surviving.html.

Literature Circle Guide to Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan. (2005).  Last accessed May 7, 2005, from http://teacher.scholastic.com/clubs/pdfs/SurvivingOnlineLC.pdf.

A Teacher's Guide to Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan.  (2005).  Last accessed May 4, 2005, from http://www.harperchildrens.com/webcontent/teachers_guides/pdf/0066236029.pdf.

Tolan, Stephanie S.  (2002).  Surviving the Applewhites.  HarperCollins: New York, NY.