Pet

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

Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. What town does Jam live in?

2. What do the people in Jam’s town call those who defeated the monsters?

3. What part of her mother's own body does Jam recognize in her mother’s painting?

4. Whose house does Pet tell Jam they need to go to at the end of Chapter 3?

5. According to Bitter and Aloe, who has the power to send Pet back through the painting?

Short Answer

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

1. What is different about the way Jam communicates with her mother versus the way she communicates with most other people?

2. How does Jam end up getting blood on her mother’s painting?

3. When the creature realizes that Jam thinks of it as a monster, what does it tell her?

4. When Jam hears her parents arguing at night in Chapter 3, what does she learn about her and her mother’s roles in allowing Pet to come to life in their world?

5. Why do Jam’s parents believe that Pet has arrived in the wrong time period?

Paired Resource

“Golem: The Mysterious Clay Monster of Jewish Lore”

• This 7-minute video from PBS’s Storied series explains the idea of a golem—a creature brought to life from clay—and analyzes some of the cultural implications of this legend.
• This resource relates to the theme of Appearance Versus Reality.
• How is the golem both like and unlike Pet? This video examines why the golem is made from clay—what ideas does this give you about a creature made from paint? The golem is brought to life with sacred words—what ideas does this give you about a creature brought to life with blood? What other similarities and differences do you predict might develop in later parts of this story? What evidence in Chapters 1-4 supports your ideas?

“Once Upon a Time”

• This accessible poem by Nigerian poet Gabriel Okara portrays a father lamenting to his son that their people and culture have changed since he himself was a child.
• This resource relates to the themes of Appearance Versus Reality and The Importance of Remembering and the Dangers of Forgetting.
• In what ways does the father in this poem think that people have changed? Has he, too, become someone with a false appearance? Why does he long for the past? Why do you think he wants to tell his son these things—is he just complaining, or is there something significant that he is trying to teach his son? How does Pet’s message about appearance versus reality apply to Pet? How might it also apply to the stories Jam’s parents tell about the past?

Chapters 5-8

Reading Check

1. What is Redemption’s younger brother’s name?

2. At the end of Chapter 6, where do Jam and Pet decide to go to find out more about the revolution?

3. In Chapter 7, whose thoughts does Jam ask Pet not to read?

4. What is Ube’s job?

5. Who does Redemption say shows signs of being abused?

Short Answer

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

1. Why can’t Jam simply drop Pet off at Redemption’s house to hunt the monster?

2. According to Pet, why is Jam unable to identify who the monster is in Redemption’s house?

3. In Chapter 6, when Jam and Pet talk about the angels, what does Jam decide about how the angels were able to figure out who the monsters were?

4. In Chapter 7, when Pet and Jam are in the bathroom and Bitter comes in, why can’t Bitter see Pet while Jam still can?

5. How does Redemption react when Pet reveals itself?

Paired Resource

“Child Abuse and Neglect”

• This page, hosted by a mental health nonprofit, gives thorough and easy-to-understand information about child abuse. [Content Warning: Depending on the age of your students, you may wish to abridge this information to remove any age-inappropriate material.]
• This resource relates to the theme of Appearance Versus Reality.
• What does this guide say about the idea that child abusers are easy to spot and only come from certain backgrounds? How does this help explain why Jam has a hard time seeing what is happening in Redemption’s family? What information in this guide is similar to the information that Jam gets at the library? In what way is it dangerous for a society to assume that children do not generally need to know this kind of information?

“The Three Types of Binary Thinking”

• This philosophical yet approachable article by Spencer Greenberg explains how three types of binary thinking can prevent a sophisticated understanding of the world.
• This resource relates to the theme of Binaries as Fiction.
• What are the three kinds of binary thinking that Greenberg talks about in this article? Where in Pet do you see examples of people struggling with these kinds of binaries? How might the advice for clearer thinking that Greenberg offers be helpful to the characters in Emezi’s novel?

Chapter 9-Epilogue

Reading Check

1. What task is Jam busy with when Redemption leaves her house in Chapter 9?

2. What does Moss draw that tells Redemption who the abuser is?

3. What kind of training does Redemption receive from his uncle?

4. What does Pet breathe into Redemption’s uncle’s face to make sure he will confess?

5. In the book’s Epilogue, who is revealed to have known all along that Redemption’s uncle was a child abuser?

Short Answer

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

1. When Jam and Redemption start to believe that someone is hurting Moss, how do their reactions differ?

2. Why does Jam insist that she and Pet wait outside Redemption’s house in Chapter 10, when Redemption decides to speak to Moss directly about the abuse?

3. When Jam and Redemption are in the basement with Redemption’s uncle in Chapter 11, why is Jam not afraid of Redemption’s uncle?

4. Why does Pet believe that Redemption’s uncle must be killed?

5. As a result of what happened to Moss, what positive changes do the human angels make for the future of Lucille?

Recommended Next Reads 

The Giver by Lois Lowry

• In this Newbery-Award-winning classic, 12-year-old Jonah discovers that all is not as perfect as it seems in his utopian society.
• Shared themes include Appearance Versus Reality and The Importance of Remembering and the Dangers of Forgetting.
• Shared topics include the loss of innocence, the victimization of children, and the attempt to create a perfect society.
• The Giver on SuperSummary

Flawed by Cecelia Ahern

• Celeste’s perfect world comes crashing down when she makes an impulsive decision that causes her to break a rule and risk being branded “Flawed” in a society that tolerates no imperfections.
• Shared theme includes Binaries as Fiction.
• Shared topics include the loss of innocence, the flawed nature of humanity, and the attempt to create a perfect society.
• Flawed on SuperSummary