Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool When Jack Baker’s mother dies near the end of World War II, thirteen-year-old Jack is abruptly moved from his home in Kansas to a boarding school in Maine. There he meets Early Auden, a boy who comes and goes to class as he pleases, who carefully follows news about a giant black bear on the nearby Appalachian Trail, and who reads in the number pi a mythic, never-ending story. When the other students are away for fall break, Jack and Early embark on a search for the great black bear. As they make their way through the woods of Maine, they encounter strange characters, each of them lost and searching for something themselves, some of them helpful, some of them dangerous. Are Jack and Early chasing something or running away from it? Will they find what they are looking for? And what is more important—the seeking or the finding? About the Author Clare Vanderpool's first novel, Moon Over Manifest, won the 2011 Newbery Medal and the 2011 Spur Award for Best Western Juvenile Fiction. Navigating Early is her second novel. Ms. Vanderpool lives in Wichita, Kansas with her husband and their four children. Used by permission of Random House. All rights reserved. Getting Started You can find Navigating Early at your local or school library, or at local or online bookstores. It’s also available as an ebook for your iPad, Kindle, or Nook. Duke TIP Book Club 1 Investigate Every good story is full of captivating characters, timeless and timely themes, significant settings, pivotal plot points, and vivid vocabulary that combine to engage our brains and our hearts. In this section of the website, you will find activities that invite you to dig deeper into each of these literary elements for a better understanding and enjoyment of the book. To aid your investigation, save our Writing While You Read guide (see page 16), with helpful tips on keeping a reading journal and annotating a book while you read. Reading Journal Prompts • Like The Apothecary and The City of Ember, Navigating Early has a prologue that introduces some of the important characters and situations in the book. One of the most important things the prologue does is introduce Early Auden, “that strangest of boys.” Jack first sees Early “…filling bag after bag with sand and stacking them like bricks.” Jack says, “It was a crazy thing he was doing, but something in me understood it. I just watched him – sandbagging the ocean” (2). Why do you think Vanderpool chose this as the way to introduce Early? Why did she choose this as our first image of him? What does it tell us about Early? What does it tell us about Jack? • Read the prologue again. Where do you see potential clues about important characters, relationships, events, ideas, and themes? What hints do you see about what is to come? Take note of these clues and hints in your Reading Journal. After you’ve finished the book, go back and reread the prologue, reviewing the clues and hints you noted. How did you do? Were the things you noted important throughout the novel? How do you read the prologue differently after reading the book? What clues did you miss? • Like Janie in The Apothecary, Jack finds himself at a new school, and the headmaster says, “the boys here at Morton Hill Academy are pretty much like kids anywhere. If you want to sit with a group in the lunchroom, they’ll probably let you. If you want to go off and sit by yourself, they’ll probably let you do that, too. So my advice to you…is jump in” (6-7). How is Jack’s experience at Morton Hill Academy similar to your own first day at a new school? Do you think the headmaster’s advice to “jump in” is good advice? • Jack’s father, “the captain,” helps him move into his room, making the bed “with military precision.” Jack tells us, “I’d slept in a bed made by my father before, and it was a little hard to breathe” (7). What does this description tell us about Jack’s relationship with his father? As you continue reading, make note in your Reading Journal of other quotes, thoughts, conversations, and interactions that help you understand Jack’s relationship with his father. • Beginning with the title, this novel is full of references to navigation, constellations, and characters who are lost – physically or emotionally. One of the first references appears on pages 23-25, Duke TIP Book Club 2 when Jack imagines that he sees his navigator ring in the pool and then has a flashback to his Boy Scout survival outing. As you read (or reread) the novel, take note of these references in your Reading Journal. • Jack is reminded of the time when he built a car for a soap box derby, but then left it out in the rain and it was ruined. His father tells him, “Well, son, you made your bed, now you’ll have to lie in it.” But Jack’s mom disagrees, saying, “Yes, you made your bed, but for heaven’s sakes, don’t just lie in it…. Jackie, if you don’t like the bed you’re in, take it apart and make it right” (9). What do these two quotes tell us about Jack’s mom and dad? How do they relate to Doon’s father’s advice to him in The City of Ember: “What you get is what you get. What you do with what you get, though...that's more the point, wouldn't you say?” (51)? • Earlier you thought about what the prologue’s first image of Early Auden tells us about him. We then see Early in Jack’s math class on the first day of school – at least until Mr. Blane starts talking about Professor Stanton’s theory that pi is ending, prompting Early to leave. Later that day in the cafeteria, Jack asks, “So what’s with the kid who never shows up to class?” (20), and the other boys describe Early as “so weird,” “all-fire sure about most things,” and having “these weird fits when his eyes go all blank and he kind of twitches” (20-21). Then, Jack finds himself in Early’s room. Read (or reread) the description of Early’s room (beginning on page 25) and Early’s first conversation with Jack (chapter 4). Taking all this information together, what do you think of Early? Do you agree with Jack that “this kid [is] strange” (28)? If so, what is unusual about him? Is Early a likeable character? An interesting one? Why would Vanderpool choose a character like Early to play such an important role in the book? How is he like Jack? How is he different from Jack? As you continue to read the book, note how Jack’s and your own impressions of Early Auden change. • If you read The City of Ember and worked through the book club activities, you know that one of the Reading Journal prompts focused on how many characters in that book were searching for something. On his first day of class, Jack’s math teacher, Mr. Blane, writes “The Holy Grail” – the object of one of the most famous literary and mythological quests – on the board, and he then tells his students that they are going to discuss “the nature and merits of a quest.” Mr. Blane goes on to explain that often people embark on quests in search of intangible things, like happiness or justice or truth (16). Later, as Early and Jack are about to set out on their adventure, Jack notes that Early is “packing for a journey of questlike proportions” (94). As you read (or reread) the novel, make note in your Reading Journal of characters that are on some kind of quest. What is each character looking for on the quest? What does each character need for the journey? Do characters set out looking for one thing and find something else? Which characters complete their quests? • After learning about the Steeplechase and the legendary Fish, Jack goes on his own steeplechase, finding himself “running faster and faster, downhill, uphill, hurdling rocks and jumping fences” (59). He wonders, “What made him [the Fish] run so fast?” and thinks, “anybody runs that fast, they’re either chasing after something or running away from it” (59). What is Jack chasing in this book? What is he running away from? What are other characters chasing or running from? Duke TIP Book Club 3 • Bridges and crossroads are also important symbolic images in this novel. What does a bridge or a crossroads represent? How do those images relate to the references to navigation and to the thematic ideas of being lost? Make a note in your Reading Journal when you encounter a reference to a bridge or crossroads. Read those sections carefully and then think about how those scenes relate to the characters, their quests, and how they are changing over the course of the novel. • Early’s story of Pi is interwoven throughout the novel. Once you’ve finished the novel, reread the story of Pi (see the page numbers for those sections listed below). How does this story relate to Jack’s story? To Early’s? To Fish’s? o “The Stargazer” (32-34) o “Student of the Ocean” (67-69) o “Citizen of the World” (77-78) o “Plights and Perils” (82-83) o “Bound for Home” (103-109) o “Land of Lost Souls” (139-141) o “The Ancient One” (195-198) o “Catacombs” (221-222) o “Finding Pi” (285-287) • When authors create interesting characters that we care about, we are much more likely to “get into” the story. Often we focus on the main characters, like Jack and Early, but the secondary (or minor) characters can often play important roles in the story, and, if they are interesting, increase our enjoyment of a novel as well. In chapter 20 we meet one such character: Gunnar. What makes Gunnar an interesting character? What role does he play in the story? How does he help Jack and Early on their quest(s)? How do Jack and Early help Gunnar? How is Gunnar similar to characters in other books and stories that you’ve read? • Jack senses that “Gunnar himself had run from something. And that something had followed him, leaving him restless and unsettled.” Jack sees “it most clearly in the thick, angry scars that marred his [Gunnar’s] back” (169). Which other characters in this novel have wounds or scars? As you read (or reread) the novel, look for references to scars and wounds, and think about how these ideas relate to some of the other big ideas – like being lost – in the story. • As Jack and Early are walking through the forest in the rain, Jack tells us, “The whole forest exhaled an ancient breath that it must have held since its great trees were saplings” (200). This description includes an example of personification, a figure of speech in which an author gives human characteristics or behavior – in this case, holding and releasing breath – to something that is non-human – in this case, the forest’s trees – or not alive at all. Personification is an important literary technique that can enhance description by helping us, as readers, think about something in a fresh way or better understand an author’s point. Can you think of other examples of personification? Visit yourdictionary.com to explore some other examples. Duke TIP Book Club 4 Getting to the Root English is a living language. It changes and grows all the time. One of the best ways to understand the history of the English language and to unlock the meanings of unfamiliar words is to learn Latin and Greek word parts. As you study biology, you will learn more and more of these word parts, and once you know them, you will begin to recognize them in all kinds of words—and you'll find that your knowledge of those word parts will help you decipher the meanings of unfamiliar words. Roots are the "base" of plants, and Latin and Greek roots form the base of many English words. For example, the Latin root audi means “to hear.” How many modern English words can you think of that include the root audi? Next, take a look at each root below. Beside each root is a word containing that root. Next, take a look at each word part below. Beside each part is a word from Navigating Early containing that root. You can find the word in context on page number in parentheses. • vers—diversionary (20) • bene—benevolent (83) • migrat—migratory (114) • luc—translucence (141) 1. Can you determine the meaning of the root from your knowledge of the word beside it? 2. If not, think of other words that you know that also contain that root. What do those words have in common? Based on that common element, can you figure out the meaning of the root? 3. If you're still stumped, check out this list of Latin and Greek roots. 4. Now that you know the meaning of the root, how many words can you generate that use the root? 5. Once you understand the meaning of the root, you'll find that even your understanding and appreciation of familiar words will deepen and grow when you think about how that root works in those words. Duke TIP Book Club 5 Below is a list of words from Navigating Early that may be unfamiliar to you, along with the page number on which each word appears in the story. • camaraderie (13) • ruddy (13) • unencumbered (27) • accolades (27) • delirium (68) • plight (82) • peril (82) • balmy (82) • finagling (99) • condolences (112) • deciduous (114) • chastisement (167) • intoxicating (192) • absolved (230) and absolution (257) • balm (258) Before you look these words up in a dictionary—or ask someone what they mean—try working through the following steps: 1. Generate a list of other words that share one or more of the same word parts. What do the words on the list have in common? Are there any clues from those commonalities that you can use to help figure out the meaning of the unknown word? Hint: Some word parts—as they appear in English words—have multiple meanings as we look back at the Latin and Greek, in part because of changes that have occurred in the words over the years. For example, does the "ped-" in "pedestrian" mean the same thing as the "ped" in "pediatrician"? Where there is possible confusion, context clues (see step 2) are extremely important. 2. Go back and reread the word in its context. This context includes the sentence in which you find the word, but you should also read one or two sentences both before and after the appearance of the word. What context clues do you find that might unlock the meaning of the word for you? 3. Make your best guess at the meaning of the word. 4. Look up the definition in a dictionary. Be sure to also look for information about the word's origin. This information will often contain the Latin or Greek word from which the word is derived. 5. How close was your guess? Duke TIP Book Club 6 Uncover Our world is full of connections—between people, places, and events. In this section of the website, you will find activities that uncover some important connections—in math, history, and science—between Navigating Early and our world! Math On the first day of class, Mr. Blane asks his students, “What is the holy grail of mathematics? Something that is so mysterious as to be considered by many almost miraculous. Something woven throughout the world of mathematics. A number that is nothing less than never-ending. Eternal” (16). Preston Townsend has the answer: “That would be pi, sir” (17). As you probably know from math class, pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Since pi is the same for every circle, we can use pi to calculate the circumference of a circle if we know the diameter or to calculate the diameter if we know the circumference. We also use pi to determine the area of a circle. • Research a brief history of pi. • Check out this animation of the unrolling of a circle’s circumference, illustrating the ratio of pi. • Use pi to take a closer look at circumference in these problems (PDF) from Duke TIP’s independent-learning unit Mathpack: Quest. Once you’ve finished the problems, you can check your answers (PDF). • Did you know that you only need three points to create a circle? Learn more about the geometry of circles. • Pi isn’t the only number with interesting and helpful properties. Learn more about the golden ratio (phi) and the Fibonacci sequence, and check out these examples of the golden ratio in nature. Duke TIP Book Club 7 History Vikings When Gunnar tells Early and Jack that he is from Norway, Early asks if he is a Viking. Gunnar replies, “I suppose every Norsemen is a Viking. We are boat people. Voyagers. Seafarers” (161). • Learn more about Viking history. Be sure to check out the "Vikings at sea” section to learn more about Viking navigation. • Learn more about life on a Viking longboat. • Build your own ship, hire a crew, and go on a raid in the BBC’s Viking Quest game! Superheroes As Jack is unpacking at Morton Hill Academy, he is excited when he sees the few copies of his favorite magazine, National Geographic, that he brought along. “Then [he] realize[s] that the rest of the magazines [are] old comic books…. Superman. Batman. Captain America.” Jack puts the comics away, thinking, “Superheroes [are] for people who [haven’t] grown up yet” (8). You know Superman, Batman, and Captain America; recent blockbuster movies starring these characters have earned billions of dollars, perhaps disproving Jack’s thinking that superheroes are only for kids! You may not know that these superheroes were created during what is known as the Golden Age of comics – from the late 1930s to the late 1940s or early 1950s. • Learn more about two major events that coincided with the Golden Age of Comics: the Great Depression and World War II. Then go back to your Reading Journal and write down your thoughts about why comic books and superheroes may have been created and become so popular during this time period. • Learn more about the history of Superman, Batman, and Captain America. • Think about more recent events in the United States and the world. Why do you think superhero movies have been so popular lately? Talk to your parents, grandparents, teachers, or other trusted adults to share your opinions and to see what they think. Some of these adults may even share some of their favorite comics with you! Duke TIP Book Club 8 Science Astronomy After his misadventure in the school pool, Jack recalls his preparation for the Boy Scout survival outing. He says, “We’d been preparing for weeks. We’d gone over the North Star, the Big Dipper and Little Dipper – all the constellations. I could identify them all” (24). Below are some activities that will help you “identify them all” and more! As you’re completing these activities, pay particular attention to the constellations that are mentioned in Navigating Early. • This “constellation hunt” game will help you learn the constellations. • Learn more about the connection between constellations and mythology. Clicking on the constellation’s name will display a star map of that constellation. • In this activity you can learn which stars would be used to navigate in each hemisphere of the globe. • Explore a range of astronomy topics on this site, created by three sixth graders! Animal Habitats and Migration As Early and Jack are packing for their quest, Early packs “honey and lavender ointment…for snakebites” (113), and when Jack asks Early why he is so sure there are timber rattlesnakes in Maine, Early has clearly done his research: “And timber rattlesnakes like quiet, remote areas, especially deciduous forests with rough terrain. They find a comfortable habitat in open, rocky ledges where temperatures are higher, but they also like cool, thick woods with a dense forest canopy” (114). Select an animal species and conduct your own research on its habitat and migratory patterns. Below are some Web links to help you get started. • Animal Planet • A-Z Animals • National Geographic • World Wildlife Fund Duke TIP Book Club 9 Create Are you a poet but don’t know it? As Early, Jack, and Gunnar sit by the fire, looking up at the stars, Gunnar says, “O look at all the fire-folk sitting in the air.” When Jack asks him about “fire-folk,” Gunnar explains, “That is what a famous poet – Hopkins, it was – called the stars (174). • Read Gerard Manley Hopkins poem “The Starlight Night”. You may want to have a dictionary handy! Also read the poem “The Beauty of a Single Star” on page 296. (Be sure to pay attention to who wrote this poem!) • In your Reading Journal, write down as many different things to which Hopkins compares stars as you can find. Also make note of similes, metaphors, or personification. • Based on the poem, what kind of feelings did stars create in Hopkins? What about in Gallagher? Identify something in nature that creates strong feelings – inspiration, awe, peace, maybe even fear – for you. • Spend some time observing the source of inspiration first-hand, or find pictures that might serve as inspiration for you. • Make notes of comparisons that are inspired by your observation and that might help express your feelings to someone else. • Write your own poem, and send it to us at [email protected]! A little later in the novel, Early and Jack cross a bridge and come to a place “where the path forked” and the two travelers have a disagreement about which way to go (190-191). • Read Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”. Parts of this poem may sound familiar to you; the closing lines of this poem are among the most famous lines in American poetry. • In your Reading Journal, consider how this poem relates to one or more of the themes and the images in Navigating Early. • Review notes that you made about some of the different thematic ideas in the novel. Pick one big idea that is important and interesting to you. • Write your own poem or story that explores that theme. When you’re finished, be sure to send it to us at [email protected]. Duke TIP Book Club 10