96 pages 3 hours read

Healer of the Water Monster

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2021

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.

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

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

Prologue-Chapter 6

Reading Check

1. What crop does Nathan plant for his science project?

2. What piece of jewelry allows Nathan to communicate with the water monster?

Short Answer

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

1. Why does Nathan decide to spend the summer with Nali?

2. Why is Nali angry with Uncle Jet when he arrives at her mobile home?

3. What deal does Nathan make with the water monster during their first meeting?

Paired Resource

See What Canyon Life Is Like for a Navajo Pageant Winner

  • This 14-minute short film from National Geographic follows two young Navajo sisters, Tonisha and Tonielle Draper, as they celebrate their family’s history and culture.
  • This resource relates to the themes of The Importance of Respecting Nature and Family as a Source of Both Love and Pain.
  • How does the Draper family’s history compare to Nathan’s family history? How do the sisters’ annual trips to the canyon compare to Nathan’s visit to his grandmother? What advice do you think the Draper sisters would give Nathan at this point in the novel?

Chapters 7-13

Reading Check

1. What message does the water monster have for Nali?

2. What does Uncle Jet give to Nathan on the day of the diagnosis meetings?

3. What is making Pond sick?

Short Answer

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

1. What does the sand painting reveal to Darkness in Chapter 8?

2. What do the Holy Beings call the vengeful entity that latched onto Uncle Jet, and how was this entity formed?

3. What do the Holy Beings ask Nathan to do at the end of Pond’s diagnosis meeting, and what do they offer him in exchange?

Paired Resource

Church Rock, America’s Forgotten Nuclear Disaster, Is Still Poisoning Navajo Lands 40 Years Later

  • This 2019 article written by New Mexico-based journalist and anthropologist Samuel Gilbert investigates the 1979 uranium spill at Church Rock and its continued impact on the local environment and community.
  • This resource connects to the theme of The Importance of Respecting Nature.
  • How has the Church Rock uranium spill impacted the environment? How do the health problems affecting the local Navajo community compare to Pond’s symptoms? How does this real-world event connect to the novel’s theme of The Importance of Respecting Nature?

Chapters 14-20

Reading Check

1. What does Pond need to teach Nathan before Nathan can journey to the Third World?

2. Which Holy Being helps Nathan reclaim his stolen wrist guard?

Short Answer

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

1. Why does Nathan try to get out of going to the Third World, and what changes his mind?

2. Why do Nali and Uncle Jet fight in Chapter 20, and how does the fight end?

3. Why does Nali become upset and take Nathan’s bow guard?

Paired Resource

Aslan Tudor & Kelly Tudor on Young Water Protectors & Young Native Activist

  • In this interview, Aslan Tudor and his mother describe how Aslan became an activist at age eight when he joined the 2016 protests at Standing Rock. Because there were so few resources with information about the topic, Aslan and Kelly collaborated to write Young Water Protectors: A Story About Standing Rock.
  • This resource relates to the theme of The Importance of Respecting Nature.
  • Why do the water protectors oppose the pipeline? What do you think Pond would say to young water protectors like Aslan?

Chapters 21-26

Reading Check

1. What does Nathan sell to pay Uncle Jet’s bail?

2. Which other character can sense Holy Beings?

Short Answer

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

1. How does Nathan convince his father that the Holy Beings are real and persuade Nali to let him go to the Third World?

2. What does Nathan have to promise Nali before she returns the bow guard?

Paired Resource

Shonto Begay

  • This brief article from the RARE Gallery in Jackson, Wyoming, discusses the life and work of Navajo artist Shonto Begay, who created the cover art for Healer of the Water Monster. Photographs of several of his paintings are included.
  • This resource connects to the theme of The Importance of Respecting Nature.
  • What themes and subjects from the novel do you see in Begay’s artwork? How does Begay compare to the mentor figures in Nathan’s life? What advice do you think Begay would give Nathan at this point in the novel?

Chapter 27-Epilogue

Reading Check

1. How many obstacles does Nathan face on his way to Mother Water Monster?

2. Mother Water Monster says that the rock contains medicine for Pond. What is the rock really?

3. Which Holy Being appears in the form of a butterfly to comfort Nathan after Pond’s death?

Short Answer

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

1. What does Nathan dream about in Chapter 30, and how does he overcome this obstacle?

2. What is Nathan’s last promise to Pond?

Recommended Next Reads

The Barren Grounds by David A. Robertson

  • In this middle-grade fantasy novel, a Cree girl named Morgan and her foster brother, Eli, discover a portal and undertake a daring journey to save the icy world on the other side.
  • Shared themes include The Importance of Respecting Nature and Finding the Hero Within.
  • Shared topics include nature, traditional stories, adventure, and family.
  • The Barren Grounds on SuperSummary

Sisters of the Neversea by Cynthia L. Smith

  • Named a Publishers Weekly Best Book, this middle-grade fantasy novel reimagines J. M. Barrie’s classic story. Lily, a Muscogee Creek girl, and her English stepsister, Wendy, journey to Neverland, where they encounter pirates, merfolk, and kidnapped children.
  • A shared theme is Finding the Hero Within.
  • Shared topics include danger, family, courage, and adventure.

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
Unlock IconUnlock all 96 pages of this Study Guide

Plus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.

Including features:

+ Mobile App
+ Printable PDF
+ Literary AI Tools