Reading guide/Kim Kronk
Morning Girl/by Michael Dorris/New York: Hyperion Books for Children / 1992/Historical
fiction/ Gr. 4-8 / ISBN 1562822845
SUMMARY:
An innocent glimpse into the culture, traditions and lives of a Native American family as told from the unique perspective of a young brother and sister; Morning Girl, who loves the day, and her younger brother Star Boy, who love’s the night. They take us along on their quest to discover their true selves, as they grow up together on an island during the months proceeding Columbus’ landing in 1492. The author makes us envious of their lives through his poetic words and colorful descriptions only to knock the wind from our sails with his thought provoking conclusion.
QUESTIONS:
1. “Names are strange and special gifts. There are names you give to
yourself and names you show the world, names that stay for a short while and
names that remain with you forever, names that come from things you do and
names that you receive as presents from other people.”(52)
Morning girl and Start Boy have names given to them as a result of their personalities
and hobbies. What do you think of the naming system in the Taino Culture? Choose
a name for yourself that reflects your personality.
2. “The day welcomed me, brushed my hair with its breeze, and greeted
me with its songs. I raised my arms high and stretched. I let the rich scent
of the large red flowers color my thoughts and the perfume gave me the idea
of how to use my special time.”(5)
What is your favorite time of day? What do you do during this special time
or what might you do during that time?
3. “The water is never still enough. Just when I can almost see my face,
when my eyes and my nose and my mouth are about to settle into a picture I
can remember, a fish rises for air or a leaf drops to the surface of the pond
or Star Boy tosses a pebble into my reflection, and I break into shining pieces.”(30)
If you had no mirrors to look into, in order to see your face, how would you
figure out what you looked like? Think of three different ways to see yourself.
4. “To my right was a large tree, a special tree with fingers that dug into the earth. Usually the higher branches were filled with red parrots. It was a place people sat under during important times. The trunk was so broad, the bark so old and carved, that you could find in its designs the faces of all the people who have ever died. If you needed to talk to them once more.”(41) How did the tree save Star Boy? What would it look like to you? Draw a picture of the special tree.
5. I’ve been hiding in the rocks all day…I made myself look like
a rock and I didn’t move. I shut my eyes…I thought about everything
a rock could think…”(24)
What kind of things do you think a rock would feel and think about? What would
rocks say to each other if they could talk?
6. In chapter 9, Morning Girl talks about the “silence being very loud,” how can silence be loud? Give an example of a time in your life when the silence seemed very loud to you?
7. The book ends with Morning Girl running off to get her parents so that
they could meet the guest who had arrived on the island; based on the epilogue,
what do you think happens to Morning Girl and her family? How would the story
continue?