112 pages 3 hours read

Karen Russell

St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 2005

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.

“Ava Wrestles the Alligator”

Reading Check

1. What are all of the alligators at Swamplandia called?

2. What does Ava call the man she meets in the swamp?

Short Answer

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

1. When Ava returns to Swamplandia from her meeting with the man in the swamp, what does she do for the first time?

2. On the morning after the Swamp Prom, what does Ossie’s note say about Ossie’s whereabouts?

“Haunting Olivia”

Reading Check

1. Where do Timothy and Wallow find the “diabolical goggles”?

2. What is Wallow’s real name?

Short Answer

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

1. What happened to Olivia?

2. What does the encounter with the ghosts of the shrimp convince the boys might be true about their sister?

Paired Resource

How a Queer Fabulism Came to Dominate Contemporary Women’s Writing

  • This seminal article on feminism and fabulism explores how female fabulists create texts where marginalized groups’ intangible emotional and intellectual concerns manifest themselves in the physical world.