Common Core - ELA Literacy Questions for Kailin Gow's YA and Middle Grade Book Series
Bitter Frost
Discussion Questions
In Accordance to Common Core ELA-Literary Standards
Bitter Frost
Discussion Questions
- According to the author, Bitter Frost is based on folklore and fairy tales, most notably, the Danish tale of the Snow Queen. However, the author made Bitter Frost her own when she created the world of Feyland and brought in distinctive traits to each “race” or beings in Feyland. For instance, she made each race or being have a distinct color of blood. Name the blood color for the Winter and Summer fey, the Pixies, and wolf fey.
- The author is known for writing books featuring strong women. Name at least 3 strong women characters in the Bitter Frost Series and why they are strong.
- Like JRR Tolkien who wrote The Lord of the Rings, the author wrote in her book of philosophy, STRONG: Powerful Philosophy for Timeless Thoughts, that she was inspired by the landscape of the English countryside, especially Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, and The Cotswolds for the setting of the Bitter Frost Series. She said whenever she visits this area, she feels as though she has returned home. Where can you see the influence of these lands in the book? The rules of the court? The language of Feyland?
- Prince Kian, the Knights, and the rules of the Courts are based on the rules of chivalry in ancient England. Knights were pledged to uphold noble ideals, especially the protection and chivalrous treatment of ladies. Do you think this helps keep order in a society during a period in history known for lawlessness? How?
- Magic in Feyland is prevalent and a way of life. When Kian teaches Breena how to use hers, it is equivalent to learning a new skill. In the mortal human world known as The Land Beyond the Crystal River, having the kind of magic Kian and Breena has would be considered super powers. How does one world versus another changes the perspective of what is acceptable and what is different?
- Breena was bullied by a gang of girls in her school when she was living in the mortal human world because of her differences. According to Logan, why are those differences strengths? When Breena was brought into Feyland, how did her differences help her rise to become the Queen that she must be?
- The Summer Queen, Redleaf (also known as The Red Queen from Autumn Springs), can be looked upon as a villain in Bitter Frost, but Breena seemed to think there is another side to her. How was Breena able to work with Redleaf, instead of fighting her, to achieve her goals in the first book, Bitter Frost?
- Why is love in Feyland considered dangerous? If Princess Shasta is an example of love being dangerous, do you think it can be outlawed and controlled as if it was a practice and action that can be controlled? Do you think outlawing love contributed to Feyland’s royalties being barren?
- Fey and fairy stories were thought of as more than fairy tales, made up stories, and lore in ancient times, especially during the middle ages. Why do you think stories of magic and heroism were written as history and legends during dark periods in Civilization such as King Arthur where they were both historical and tales? How is Bitter Frost like the ancient stories of heroism and legends?
- Author Kailin Gow has said she was influenced by real life historical royals when writing the Bitter Frost Series. The Red Queen or Queen Redleaf of the Summer Court, was loosely based on Empress Dowager Cixi of China who really did have a Summer Palace, as well as Catherine the Great. Prince Kian is loosely based on King Arthur. Who in history do you think Breena is based on or is she more like the author herself, who is known for her humanitarian work besides her books?
- The War between the different Feys (Winter, Summer, and the Pixies) is also loosely based on historical wars in Ancient Civilizations. The author is said to be a descendent of legendary strategist and philosopher Zhuge Liang, who is immortalized in the ancient novel, The Three Kingdoms. Bitter Frost's War of the Fey was based loosely on the wars between the 3 Kingdoms in Ancient China. Breena was challenged as a leader early on when she had to make strategic decisions that would affect her kingdom and the rest of Feyland. How is the Bitter Frost Series incorporate strategy and philosophy into its plot and storyline?
The Fairy Rose Chronicles ELA- Literary
Discussion Sheet
1) What is Rose’s special gift?
2) Where do Rose and her family live?
3) Who are the SIGHTLESS, and why does Rose call them SIGHTLESS?
4) What kinds of fairies live in Fairy Land or Feyland as they call it?
5) Who does the cooking in fairy society? Is that how it is in your family? Who does the blacksmithing? Is this what you expected for women and men?
6) What are Rose’s choices for apprenticeship?
7) Is Rodney a good older brother to Rose? Do you think he would make a good knight? What are the qualities do you think a knight must have? Would Rose make a good knight? Would Alistair?
8) Was the Winter Queen like what Rose expected? What do you think of the Winter Queen?
9) Was the Summer Queen like what Rose expected? How is she different from the Winter Queen? How is she the same? Who do you think Rose likes better?
10) If you lived in Feyland, what apprenticeship would you choose? Harvester Fairies, Knight Training, or Alchemy? Why?
Common Core ELA-Literary Questions for the DESIRE Series
Discussion Questions
DESIRE Series by Kailin Gow
1) What is an utopian society? How is Arcadia an utopian society?
2) The Word, “Arcadia” has a meaning. What is it? Is DESIRE’s society, aptly named “Arcadia”?
3) The author is known for choosing the names of her main characters and places for a reason. What does “Kama” mean?
4) Kama is known for her beauty, but in what other ways does she stand out from a sea of people in DESIRE? What sets her apart?
5) Is Liam her ideal husband-to-be? What qualities about him that you like?
6) Kama’s mother once told her the most important thing about a man for a woman, is how he makes her feel. Does Liam measure up to Janice Johnson’s expectations of the ideal husband-to-be for her daughter?
7) Governor Pim Seer built and fashioned Arcadia from the idyllic childhood town he and Kama’s mother grew up in. What happened to the town, and is it wrong of Pim Seer to rebuild Arcadia like his old town?
8) Every child who becomes of age at 18, gets a Life’s Plan. What is it, and why do you think a Life’s Plan is needed in this society? Is having a Life’s Plan a good idea?
9) Torrid is an outsider in Arcadia. Where is he from? And why is Kama so attracted to him?
10) Liam, Kama’s long-time boyfriend, will become the most powerful person in Arcadia one day. It is written in his Life’s Plan. He grew up without a mother, and his father Governor Seer, was hardly home. How is Kama good for him, and do you think if he has to choose between being with Kama or assuming his role as the future Governor, what should he choose?
11) Janice Johnson and Governor Pim Seer once had a relationship, but Janice fell in love with Kama’s father. If Janice never set eyes on Kama’s father, how would that have affect Pim Seer? Would he have become the man that he is today?
12) Two of Kama’s friends from her neighboring district have witnessed people disappearing from Arcadian society. How has that affected them? What do you think will happen to Matthew and Jocelyn, if they do not get their desired Life’s Plan?
13) Sarah, Kama’s best girl friend always seem so cheerful and willing to help, but at point when Sarah spotted Torrid, she mentioned Kama’s situation with her Life’s Plan was not entirely a bad situation. Do you think Sarah regrets her Life’s Plan, although she was one of the lucky ones who received exactly what she wanted? Sarah, the daughter of two Committee Workers, in a way, represents all the other 18-year-olds who have received their Life’s Plans. What in Sarah’s Life’s Plan, do you think she would change?
14) Kama, born and raised in Arcadia, has never known a world outside of Arcadian Society. In what ways have she matured and changed throughout Book 1? Has meeting Torrid opened her eyes to a world beyond Arcadia? What does Kama see? How does it compare to the Arcadia she once knew?
15) DESIRE takes place a thousand years from now. How do you imagine our world in a thousand years?
The Phantom Diaries: Book 1 of The Phantom Diaries Series
ELA - Literary Questions
Discussion Questions
1. Annette is away from home for the first time, living in New York, on her own. Have you live on your own before? When and what was your first experience like to live on your own? How did you feel?
2. Have you ever experienced or felt an instant attraction to someone? Do you believe in love at first sight? Can you explain this attraction?
3. How important is it to have passion in your romantic relationship? Are there other qualities and factors you look for in a relationship?
4. Annette deals with a lot of pressure once she becomes the star of the opera. How does she deal with it? Does she get support from anyone?
5. With Annette’s meteoric rise to stardom, other cast members have shown jealousy. Is there a way Annette can diffuse this jealousy? Should she even try?
6. Who should Annette be with – Eric, Chace, or Aaron? Who would you choose?
7. What qualities of each men do you attract Annette to them? Which one of them is absolutely essential to her relationship? Which ones are absolutely essential to your ideal relationship? Would you compromise any of them? Should you compromise?
8. Who do you cast in the role of each character – Annette, Chace, Eric, Aaron, and Judy?
9. Music evokes emotions and passion. Here it draws all the players together into a plot that is thick with drama and passion. Have you ever been so moved by music as to forget where you are? If so, what kinds of music transport you to another place, another time?
10. Who should Annette end up with? Eric, Chace, Aaron, or no one at all?
The Stoker Sisters Series
ELA-Literary Questions
1. Sadie and Alexis Stoker are from Jane Austen’s time period. Sadie is seventeen, while Alexis is nineteen. Sadie dreams of being a writer like Jane Austen, but worries that being a woman, she would not be allowed to pursue her dream as a writer. Were young women of Jane Austen’s time period encouraged to become writers? What were the options Sadie and Alexis have as young ladies of marriageable age of this time period?
2. Sadie and Alexis were educated by a tutor named Delilah. Did girls go to school at this time period? What did they study?
3. Did young women from a proper family have a choice on who they can marry or was it arranged?
4. Lord Ashwin presents everything that rebels from the careful sheltered life the Stoker Sisters have lived in Dorset, England. What qualities do each sisters love about Lord Ashwin?
5. Sadie and Alexis are well-read young ladies. They are always reading and discussing books throughout the book. They compare Lord Ashwin to Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Lord Ashwin seems to be attracted to both sisters. Which sister do you think he truly loves?
6. Why are Sadie and Alexis terrified of rogue hunters? Are rogue hunters dangerous not only to vampires, but to humans, too?
7. Can vampires be good? Is it within their nature to be destructive and deadly?
8. Did Bram Stoker present Dracula as the Dracula whom the Author came to know through her real-life encounter with Dracula’s descendants, his people?
9. Sadie and Alexis have always been rival sisters, opposites in every way. What makes them come together in this book, and what makes them fight tooth and nails with each other? Do you think they will ever come together as supportive sisters?
10. Keegan appears to be a normal friendly high school boy at first, but there are many signs showing he isn’t what he seems. Is love blind? Is Sadie and Alexis blind to what Keegan is because of their love for him? Is he blind to what they are because of his love for them?