58 pages • 1 hour read
Hello, Universe
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
CHAPTERS 1-8
Reading Check
1. What is Valencia’s recurring nightmare?
2. Who is Gulliver?
3. What business does Kaori run?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Virgil interact with Lola?
2. What does Kaori reveal to Virgil, and what does she ask him to do?
3. Whom does Virgil see at the supermarket, and what is his reaction?
CHAPTERS 9-16
Reading Check
1. What does Lola warn Virgil to beware of?
2. Who is Sacred?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Where does Valencia discover Kaori, and why does she decide to go see her?
2. How is Chet like his father?
3. What brings Valencia, Virgil, and Chet into the same place on Saturday?
Paired Resource
“The Choice Is Yours: The Fate Of Free Will”
- This NPR commentary examines the complexities of free will, including scientific and philosophic perspectives on the topic.
- This connects to the theme of Cosmic Intervention.
- What actions have the characters taken that exhibit free will? Does anything besides free will influence these actions?
CHAPTERS 17-25
Reading Check
1. What is Valencia studying in the woods?
2. Who is Ruby San Salvador?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Virgil climb down the well?
2. How does Virgil react when he finds himself trapped in the well?
3. What leads Kaori to worry about Virgil?
Paired Resource
- Time for Kids explores how viewing our lives as hero journeys can aid our mental health and offers suggestions for getting started. This resource includes written, Spanish, and audio versions.
- This connects to the theme of The Hero’s Journey.
- What is Joseph Campbell’s concept of a hero’s journey? What does Virgil do that is heroic?
CHAPTERS 26-32
Reading Check
1. What does Kaori say Valencia’s nightmare means?
2. What does Valencia realize about Virgil when she sees a picture of him?
3. What happens to Chet when he tries to catch a snake?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What advice does Ruby give Virgil about his family, and what is her reasoning?
2. Why does Virgil yell for help again, even though he tried earlier to no avail?
Paired Resource
“Sheena Iyengar: Fate, Chance, or Choice”
- In this 12-minute speech, Iyengar discusses ways to view our lives and how they unfold, drawing from her life story.
- Theme connections include The Hero’s Journey, Cosmic Intervention, and Communication Challenges.
- Where do the characters “create choices for themselves,” as Iyengar suggests?
- In this Teen Vogue interview, Julia Marzovilla discusses what it is like to live with stuttering as a communication disorder and considers how people can support others with speech impediments.
- Theme connections include Communication Challenges.
- How has Valencia advocated for herself as Marzovilla does in this interview?
CHAPTERS 33-42
Reading Check
1. What advice does Valencia give Chet?
2. Who realizes where Virgil is trapped?
3. How does Gen’s jump rope help rescue Virgil?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How do Gen and Kaori discover Valencia’s real name?
2. What does Virgil do after being rescued that shifts the relationships in his life?
Recommended Next Reads
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
- Princess Ani can speak with animals but feels uncertain about communicating with humans. When abandoned and in danger far from home, she builds her voice and finds her power.
- Shared themes include The Hero’s Journey, Cosmic Intervention, and Communication Challenges.
- Shared topics include danger, growing up, family, voice, betrayal, stories, animals, and leadership.
Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
- Melody is enthralled with words and music and has advanced intelligence, leading to success on the quiz team at school. She also has cerebral palsy, which makes communicating challenging. In the aftermath of bullying and abandonment, Melody uses her voice to stand up against cruelty.
- Shared themes include The Hero’s Journey and Communication Challenges.
- Shared topics include family, bullying, danger, advanced talents, voice, school, and growing up.
- Out of My Mind on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
CHAPTERS 1-8
Reading Check
1. Valencia is standing with others watching a solar eclipse, and once it ends, she is alone. (Chapter 2)
2. Virgil’s guinea pig (Chapter 3)
3. Psychic readings (Chapter 4)
Short Answer
1. Lola sees Virgil more clearly and accurately than the rest of his family. She asks him perceptive questions, and he shares more with her than others; he even considers telling her a secret. He listens intently and asks her questions, too. (Chapter 8)
2. Kaori sees Virgil in darkness but cannot be specific. She also declares he will meet the girl he likes but cannot speak to. Kaori tells him to find five stones and bring them to her at their next appointment. (Chapter 7)
3. Virgil sees Valencia, the girl he likes, at the supermarket, and he hides behind Lola, unable to speak to Valencia. As he builds the courage to talk with her, she turns without seeing him. Then, he sees the neighborhood bully and hides by opening a freezer door. (Chapter 8)
CHAPTERS 9-16
Reading Check
1. The color red (Chapter 11)
2. A dog that Valencia feeds and visits in the forest (Chapter 15)
Short Answer
1. Valencia sees Kaori’s card on the store bulletin board, where Virgil has posted it. She decides to visit her because she wants to discuss her recurring nightmare. (Chapter 9)
2. Chet and his father bully people. Valencia notices Chet’s “[m]eanness,” and he is cruel to Virgil earlier in the novel, while Chet’s father makes fun of Valencia, the cashier, and the person ahead of them in line. (Chapters 9-10)
3. Valencia goes into the forest to visit Sacred and study animals for her nature journal. Virgil walks through the forest to go to Kaori’s home for his psychic appointment. Chet is in the forest looking for snakes to catch. (Chapters 9-16)
CHAPTERS 17-25
Reading Check
1. Nature, in particular squirrels (Chapter 19)
2. Ruby is from a folk tale Lola told Virgil and advises Virgil when he is trapped in the well. (Chapter 25)
Short Answer
1. Chet threw his backpack down the well. Virgil’s pet guinea pig was in the backpack, so Virgil climbs down to rescue him, despite his fear. (Chapter 17)
2. Virgil tries to find his way out. When he realizes he is trapped, he is at first afraid to yell, in case Chet is around. When he does call for help, the loudness of his voice jars him. Over time, he gets increasingly terrified, and he imagines he hears Pah, a being from his grandmother’s stories. (Chapters 17-25)
3. Virgil is late, and he is never late, so Kaori begins to worry. Once she consults her crystals, she becomes more worried because of their message that something kept him from the appointment. (Chapter 23)
CHAPTERS 26-32
Reading Check
1. Kaori says that Valencia’s nightmare means she feels invisible and then becomes invisible. (Chapter 26)
2. Valencia realizes she knows Virgil from the resource room at school. (Chapter 29)
3. The snake bites him. (Chapter 30)
Short Answer
1. Ruby suggests Virgil think his thoughts toward his family, and they will feel them. She says this kind of thing happens all the time and some people are good at receiving the thoughts. (Chapter 28)
2. Ruby tells Virgil to yell again and let his sadness out. She counters Virgil’s fears of Pah hearing him by saying Pah gets strong when he senses fear. (Chapter 32)
CHAPTERS 33-42
Reading Check
1. To go home and clean his wound so it does not get infected (Chapter 33)
2. Valencia (Chapter 37)
3. Valencia ties the jump rope at the bottom of the ladder, so Virgil can pull himself up. (Chapter 38)
Short Answer
1. Valencia tells Chet her first name and stands up to him and his bullying, saying, “[M]y name is Valencia not deafo.” Gen and Kaori overhear. Then, Valencia shares her last name with them proudly. (Chapter 33-35)
2. Virgil speaks his mind as he planned when trapped in the well. He stands up to Chet, he tells his mom not to call him Turtle, and he texts Valencia. (Chapters 41-42)
Unlock all 58 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 9,300+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Related Titles
By Erin Entrada Kelly
