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for use with the book "Anna Mei, Cartoon Girl" by Carol A. Grund. Also check out "Anna Mei, Escape Artist" and the upcoming "Anna Mei, Blessing in Disguise"
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Discussion Questionsfor
Anna Mei, Cartoon Girl
Now you can put yourself in Anna Mei Anderson’s shoes...what would you do in the situations from the book?
Answer these questions to find out!Copyright Pauline Books & Media and Daughters of St. Paul 2011
1) When the story begins, Anna Mei worries about the clothes she’s wearing on her first day at her new school.
Do you think you can tell things about a person from how he or she is dressed?
Have you ever thought you could tell but then you turned out to be wrong?
Copyright Pauline Books & Media and Daughters of St. Paul 2011
2) On her first day at Elmwood Elementary, Anna Mei thinks about some of the new kids who came to her old school in the past.
Does it seem like she made an effort to welcome those kids?
Do you think she would do things differently now?
3) Have you ever felt that you were “in the spotlight,” like Anna Mei does when her classmates first meet her?
Even if people are just curious and not critical, that situation can be uncomfortable. What did you do to help you get through it?
4) Anna Mei’s parents made a hard choice when they decided to move away from their friends in order to be with family, and their choice makes Anna Mei unhappy.
Did you ever do something you were sure was the right thing, even though it upset other people?
Did you try to make them change their minds?
Copyright Pauline Books & Media and Daughters of St. Paul 2011
Copyright Pauline Books & Media and Daughters of St. Paul 2011
6) Once Anna Mei gets to know the Ponytail Girls a little better, she realizes she doesn’t have much in common with them. Pretending to be like them seems like the easiest solution at first.
Why do you think it doesn’t work so well in the long run?
Copyright Pauline Books & Media and Daughters of St. Paul 2011
7) Even though Anna Mei really liked the mold project for science class, she chose to hide that from the other kids.
Do you think she made the right choice?
Is it ever a good idea to hide some of your thoughts or feelings from others?
Copyright Pauline Books & Media and Daughters of St. Paul 2011
9) Mrs. Anderson’s good news about getting a job feels like bad news to Anna Mei, but she’s happy for her mother anyway.
Can you think of a time when you put someone else’s feelings ahead of your own?
Do you remember how it felt to do that?
10) Seeing her mother and her aunt having fun together makes Anna Mei think this: “It seemed so unfair. Why couldn’t everyone be happy at the same time?”
Have you ever felt angry or jealous when someone else gets what they want and you don’t?
What do you do when you think a situation is unfair?
Copyright Pauline Books & Media and Daughters of St. Paul 2011Copyright Pauline Books & Media and Daughters of St. Paul 2011
Copyright Pauline Books & Media and Daughters of St. Paul 2011
11) When Anna Mei’s father finds out that she hasn’t been honest about the carnival, her first instinct is to tell another lie. But then, the story says, “her gut sent a message to her brain: Tell the truth.”
Did you ever get a message like that from somewhere inside?
What did you end up doing?
12) Have you ever felt embarrassed in front of your friends the way Anna Mei does when Danny shows up at the carnival?
Did you try to cover it up by saying something you regretted later?
How could you have handled the situation better?
Copyright Pauline Books & Media and Daughters of St. Paul 2011
13) The heritage project Ms. Wagner assigns is about ancestors—the people who came before you in your family. Often you can see a straight line from children to parents and grandparents and even great-grandparents.
Why was this project such a problem for Anna Mei?
Can you think of any ways she might have solved it sooner than she did?
Copyright Pauline Books & Media and Daughters of St. Paul 2011
Copyright Pauline Books & Media and Daughters of St. Paul 2011
14) Which of the heritage reports described in the book was your favorite?
Why did you like that one?
If you were doing a report like the kids in Room 117, what would you tell people about your own ancestors?
15) Even though she has people in her life who care about her—like her parents, her teachers, and her friends back in Boston—Anna Mei doesn’t ask them for help with her problems.
Do you think sharing her fears with someone would have changed the way things turned out?
16) A turning point for Anna Mei comes when she hears Fr. Mark’s sermon at church.
Were you ever inspired by something you heard at church, school or somewhere else?
Did it make you start to think about things in a different way?
17) Anna Mei opens the door to help when she says, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now, or even who I’m supposed to be.”
Who does she finally turn to?
Has anyone in your life ever seemed like the answer to a prayer?
Copyright Pauline Books & Media and Daughters of St. Paul 2011
Copyright Pauline Books & Media and Daughters of St. Paul 2011
18) Anna Mei spends some of her time peeling off the layers of wallpaper in her bedroom, making way for a fresh, bright color. By the end of the book, more than just her room is changing.
Can you think of any differences between the Anna Mei we meet in Chapter 1 and the Anna Mei who is now ready to paint her room a color she picked out herself?
If you liked Anna Mei, Cartoon Girl, you’ll want to read more about Anna Mei’s adventures in...
