Full Tilt

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-2

Reading Check

1. What does Quinn lose on the roller coaster?

2. Quinn did not speak until age 3. What compelled him to begin talking?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What dangerous thing does Quinn do in Chapter 1?

2. What makes Blake panic when they ride the Kamikaze?

Chapters 3-4

Reading Check

1. What does Blake’s mother assume is wrong with Quinn when she finds him unconscious?

2. In Chapter 4, how many rides are Blake, Maggie, and Russ told they must go on before dawn?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Carl give Blake in Chapter 3, and why is this gift significant to Blake?

2. Why does Blake want to go to the party after Quinn is taken to the hospital?

Paired Resource

“Childhood Trauma’s Lasting Effects on Mental and Physical Health”

• Article from the Cleveland Clinic about the lingering effects of childhood trauma
• This resource relates to the theme of Overcoming Trauma.
• According to this article, what are the potential physical and psychological effects of experiencing trauma as a child? Does Blake show any of these effects? Based on this article, what advice would you give the adults in his life about helping him recover?

Chapters 5-6

Reading Check

1. Which animal does Blake ride on the carousel?

2. What memory comes to Blake’s mind on the bumper cars?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. After the carousel ride, what theory does Blake form about the relationship between Cassandra and the carnival’s rides?

2. What does Cassandra tell Blake happens to people who die on the rides?

Chapters 7-8

Reading Check

1. What is the replica of Notre Dame made of?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Which element of the boat ride reminds Blake of Carl, and which element reminds him of his mother?

2. When the monster catches Blake in the maze, what does he realize about the monster?

Paired Resource

“My Mother Has Too Many Boyfriends”

• Psychology Today advice column featuring a letter from a young woman who feels stressed by her mother’s dating habits
• This resource relates to the themes of Overcoming Trauma and Fear of Change.
• How do Blake’s concerns about his mother’s dating compare to the letter writer’s? How do both Blake and the letter writer feel traumatized by their family history? Does any of the psychologist’s advice apply to Blake’s situation?

Chapters 9-10

Reading Check

1. What does Blake’s roller-coaster car turn into in Chapter 9?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Blake show leadership in Chapter 9?

2. Why does Russ attack Blake in Chapter 10?

Chapters 11

Reading Check

1. What location does the Wheel of Ra transport Blake to?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Blake rescue the boy who is caught by the guard’s whip?

2. When Quinn is poisoned by Cassandra in Chapter 11, what sacrifice does Blake make to save Quinn?

Paired Resource

Poet Kae Tempest performing “Balance”

• In this 3-minute video, award-winning poet Kae Tempest performs a poem about the importance of having a balanced character.
• This resource relates to the theme of Finding Balance.
• Why do the people in this poem have the names they do? What happens to them over the course of the poem, and why? What message is Tempest sending about the importance of finding balance in life? How is Blake learning a similar lesson during his time in the park?

Chapters 12-13

Reading Check

1. Once Blake and Quinn are both seated in the Tilt-a-Whirl, what does the car turn into?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Cassandra fail to catch Blake and Quinn as they are running away from the mummification room?

2. What deal does Cassandra try to make with Blake when he sees Russ and Maggie in The Works?

Chapters 14-15

Reading Check

1. Where is Cassandra caught in an explosion in Chapter 14?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What large objects do Blake and Quinn fly past in Chapter 14, and in which setting has the reader seen these objects before?

2. On the teacup ride, what does Blake finally remember about the bus crash?

Paired Resource

“Fear”

• An accessible poem by Kahlil Gibran, a key literary figure in the Arab diaspora
• This resource relates to the theme of Fear of Change.
• What might the river in this poem symbolize? What might the ocean symbolize? What message does the poem convey about overcoming fear? How has Blake shown an increasing ability to face his fears in the park? Do you think he would agree or disagree with what Gibran says about fear? Why?

Chapters 16

Reading Check

1. What crushes Cassandra in Chapter 16?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Cassandra approach Blake and dig her nails into him as the park begins to fall apart?

2. When Blake regains consciousness after Cassandra is crushed, where does he find himself?

Recommended Next Reads

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

• In this award-winning middle-grades novel, Nobody Owens is growing up in a graveyard among his found family of ghosts, gathering his courage to face the world outside.
• Shared topics include the supernatural, the importance of family, survivor’s guilt, and personal growth.
• Shared themes include Overcoming Trauma and Fear of Change.
• The Graveyard Book on SuperSummary

The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

• In this young adult novel based on Japanese folklore, a 300-year-old spirit walks the earth frightening child murderers to death. Then she meets a boy called Tarquin, and everything changes.
• Shared topics include the supernatural, horror, the importance of family, and personal growth.
• Shared themes include Overcoming Trauma and Finding Balance.