The Dragon Lantern (42 page)
Read The Dragon Lantern Online
Authors: Alan Gratz
5.
   A. Many characters whom Hachi and Fergus meet in Louisiana are true figures from history. Go to the library or online and use research skills to identify at least three characters from the Louisiana-based chapters of the novel who were not simply invented by the author. If desired, continue your search for real historical figures in the story. Keep track of them in a notebook.
      B. Use your research as the base for a card game: Write each character name on a separate index card. On the reverse side write “F” for fictional or “R” for real historical figure along with 2â3 facts about this individual. Take turns holding up cards to see if friends or classmates can tell the fictional from the real and what they know about the real people.
6.
   In the character of Sings-In-The-Night, write at least four journal entries, including one recounting your transformation into a bird girl, one explaining your complicated behavior toward Archie and his friends, one describing your decision to join forces with Archie, and one exploring your feelings toward Mrs. Moffett and what you may understand about her that the other League members do not.
7.
   Create a chart comparing Buster, Mr. Rivets, Philomena Moffett, and Kitsune in terms of their machine, human, spirit, and animal qualities. Based on your chart, write a MANIFESTO (a declaration of your guidelines and goals) explaining how all creatures of the earth should be treated. Read your manifesto aloud to friends or classmates.
8.
   Create an illustrated booklet entitled, “A Reader's Guide to the Heroes of the League of Seven.” Make a page for each League member, noting his or her physical appearance, what you know of their history and powers, and how they contribute to the group. Leave two blank pages for future League members to be discovered in novels to come!
9.
   Role-play a conversation between Archie, Hachi, Fergus, Clyde, and Kitsune in which each discusses why he or she agreed to be part of the League of Seven and their feelings about the group.
10.
Help Archie and his friends find their next League member by creating an early chapter for the next League of Seven novel. Select your favorite historical time and place and research at least two real people, events, or important objects from this time to include in your chapter. Invent and name a new fictional League member and decide what abilities he or she will have. Write a 3â6 page chapter in which Archie or Hachi meets this new League member.
11.
In the last century, philosopher and essayist George Santayana (1863â1952) wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” How does this relate to Archie's observation that people sometimes “want to forget” horrible experiences? Is forgetting dangerous? Write an essay explaining how Santayana's quotation can be understood in terms of the novel.
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Alan Gratz
is the author of
Samurai Shortstop
, an ALA 2007 Top Ten Book for Young Adults. He began writing
The League of Seven
by listing all the things that ten-year-old Alan would have thought were awesome, including brass goggles, airships, tentacle monsters, brains in jars, windup robots, secret societies, and superpowers. (In fact, he still thinks all those things are awesome.) When he's not writing books like
The League of Seven
,
Samurai Shortstop
,
The Brooklyn Nine
, and
Prisoner B-3087
, he's usually reading other people's books or creating an awesome new costume for science fiction/fantasy conventions. Visit his website at
www.alangratz.com
, or sign up for email updates
here
.
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The Monster War
(forthcoming)
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CONTENTS
Map of the North Americas, 1875
Frontispiece (The League of Seven Characters)
The League of Seven Characters Frontispiece
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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE DRAGON LANTERN: A LEAGUE OF SEVEN NOVEL
Copyright © 2015 by Alan Gratz
Reader's Guide copyright © 2015 by Tor Books
The Monster War
excerpt copyright © 2015 by Alan Gratz
All rights reserved.
Cover art and interior illustrations by Brett Helquist
Map by Jennifer Hanover
A Starscape Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-7653-3823-5 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-3851-2 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466838512
First Edition: June 2015
