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

Prologue-Chapter 1.5

Reading Check

1. What is an apologia?

2. Where does the narrator encourage the reader to picture the story’s setting, instead of revealing the real names of locations in the story?

Short Answer

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

1. According to the narrator, why is this book so dangerous?

2. Why does the narrator choose to continue writing the story?

Chapters 2-7

Reading Check

1. What is the name of the wooden box containing vials of scented liquid that Cass and her grandfathers find among the magician’s things?

2. What object are Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais looking for at the magician’s house?

Short Answer

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

1. What is Max-Ernest’s “condition”?

2. How do Cass and Max-Ernest decode the magician’s secret message?

Chapters 8-14

Reading Check

1. What wordplay device does the magician use to code the message in his notebook?

2. What unique, distinguishing physical mark does the magician’s twin brother, Luciano, have?

3. What condition do both Pietro and Luciano share?

4. Who does Cass believe the Golden Lady from Pietro’s story is?

Short Answer

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

1. How does Cass interpret the clue “UNDERNEATH” to access the magician’s writings?

2. According to Pietro, what is synesthesia?

3. What sensation or feeling does the sound of the Golden Lady’s voice evoke in Pietro?

Paired Resource

“George Washington Crosses the Delaware”

• David Shulman, an American cryptographer and lexicographer, composed this sonnet in 1936; every line is an anagram of the poem’s title.
• Students may be challenged to construct the anagrams in each line and reflect on how the author plays with the letters and the structure of the words to create new words and meanings in the poem. 
• How does the author of the poem use language as a medium for wordplay? How does it change the reader’s perspective of the connections between the structure of words? How do characters in the novel use their knowledge of word structures to reveal hidden insights?

“Italian Life Under Fascism”

• This online exhibit from the University of Wisconsin—Madison contains a collection of primary resources on life in fascist Italy under Mussolini.
• Pietro’s explanation of his Italian identity and his backstory of being sent away from his home country during the rise of Mussolini could be a good opportunity for students to connect historical allusions in the novel to real-life events.
• The collection is divided into several different categories; the “About” section is most helpful for providing general information and history about Mussolini and his reign in Italy during the 1930s and 1940s. (The text here is likely not student-facing but could be a good teacher resource for excerpt or paraphrase.)
• Other categories provide a gallery of primary sources depicting propaganda and other media from the time of Mussolini’s reign; the “Il Duce” section includes pictures of Mussolini, while other sections provide examples of propaganda and culture during fascism in Italy.
• How does the author use historical allusion to connect Pietro and Luciano’s story to true historical events? How does this knowledge help characterize Pietro and Luciano and inform the reader’s perspective of them as characters?

“Everybody Works: Documenting Circus Life in Hugo, Oklahoma”

• This article by Stephen Winick is part of a larger project to collect an oral history of circus life. The article documents the history, culture, language, and other elements of circus life in Hugo, Oklahoma, known as “Circus City, USA,” and includes historical images.
• The article is quite lengthy and is divided into sections. It is probably more teacher-facing than student-facing, although excerpts or paraphrases could be helpful. The “Workplace Culture and Communication” section may be particularly relevant to details in the story, as Pietro references the “carny” lingo in his backstory.
• This resource will give students the opportunity to connect the text to real-life circus culture and history. Students may be prompted to think about the details Pietro provided about circus culture and lingo and think about the role of language to reflect unique ways of living and experiencing the world.

Chapters 15-17

Reading Check

1. What fake identity does Cass assume to enter the Midnight Sun?

Short Answer

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

1. What emergency occurred while Cass and Max-Ernest were reading Pietro’s story?

2. Why does Cass end her collaboration with Max-Ernest?

3. How does the reader “bribe” the narrator into continuing the story?

Paired Resource

“The Color of Sound”

• This exhibit from the Sun Valley Museum of Art in Idaho features work from synesthetic artists who reimagine sound as color.
• The link includes photos of the gallery, a video tour, and a brochure with information on the exhibit.
• Like the artists in this exhibit, Benjamin Blake also represents his synesthetic experiences in his art; this resource can connect to the Personal Differences theme.
• How does Benjamin Blake relate to his world with more than one sense? How does synesthesia enrich his understanding of his world or provide him with unique insights? How is synesthesia a strength for Benjamin and other characters in the novel?

Chapters 18-25

Reading Check

1. What ancient structure is the spa modeled after?

2. Who is the “surprise guest” awaiting Cass at dinner?

3. What piece of information do Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais wish to learn from Pietro’s notebook?

Short Answer

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

1. According to Owen, why is the Midnight Sun called a sensorium?

2. How does Ms. Mauvais offer to “fix” Cass and Max-Ernest?

3. Why does Ms. Mauvais always keep her hands covered with gloves?

4. Why does Dr. L become emotional when he smells Cass’s cotton-candy-flavored Smoochie?

Paired Resource

“The Philosophers' Stone: History and Myth”

• This article from Hektoen International briefly overviews the history behind alchemy and the search for immortality via the Philosopher’s Stone. It briefly discusses the belief that the stone could change “imperfect metals into perfect metals as well as extend human life.”
• This resource connects to the Fixation on Perfection theme.
• How does the antagonists’ obsession with pursuing perfect youth and appearances lead them to do horrible things? What do you think the novel is saying about the dangers of fixating on perfection and external appearances?

Chapters 26-0

Reading Check

1. What taste does Benjamin associate Cass with?

2. Which item of clothing do all the cult members wear?

3. Which object from earlier in the novel do Cass and Max-Ernest use to distract Dr. L and rescue Benjamin?

Short Answer

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

1. Who are the Masters of the Midnight Sun, and what is their goal?

2. What is the “real real world,” according to Dr. L?

3. What major event does the narrator describe in the denouement to leave the reader with “a sense of closure”?

Recommended Next Reads 

If You're Reading This, It's Too Late by Pseudonymous Bosch

• In the sequel to The Name of This Book Is Secret, the Narrator returns to continue the story of Cass and Max-Ernest as they complete their inaugural mission with the Terces Society to recover an object called the Sound Prism.
• A shared theme includes Personal Differences as Innate Sources of Strength.
• Shared topics include riddles and puzzle solving, secret societies, alchemy, ancient mysteries, and friendship.

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

• Following the death of their parents in a mysterious house fire, the newly orphaned Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire find themselves in the care of Count Olaf, a nefarious villain who mistreats them and plots to steal their fortune. The narrator breaks the fourth wall to recount the never-ending miseries that plague the orphans as they use their wits to navigate treachery and woe.
• A shared theme includes Personal Differences as Innate Sources of Strength.
• Shared topics include an intrusive narrator, secret societies, and puzzle solving.
• The Bad Beginning on SuperSummary