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Copywork
About This Passage
Sachar packs this passage with sensory words (warm, bubbly, mushy, sweet, tangy) so the reader can almost taste the sploosh with Stanley. 'Nectar' is an unusual word — it reaches back to Greek mythology, where nectar was the drink of the gods — and 'parched throat' lets you feel the long thirst all at once. The word 'perhaps' is important: the author is showing you that Stanley is working out what the sploosh is, not being told.
It was a warm, bubbly, mushy nectar, sweet and tangy. It felt like heaven as it flowed over his dry mouth and down his parched throat. He thought it might have been some kind of fruit at some time, pe...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell the events of Chapter 35. Begin when Zero first answers from under the boat. Tell what sploosh is and how Zero and Stanley share it. Describe the reading moment at the painted letters on the back of the boat. Include Zero's stomach pain and his refusal to go back to camp. End with the moment Zero looks at Big Thumb and his own hand makes a fist with the thumb raised.
Discussion Questions
- Sachar compares Zero's face to a rotten jack-o'-lantern. What does this simile do for the reader that a plain description ('Zero looked very sick') could not do?
- Zero refuses to go back to Camp Green Lake, even when Stanley warns him he will die in the desert. Zero answers, 'Then I'll die out here.' What kind of choice is Zero making, and why do you think Sachar gives him such a short, firm answer?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Filled with small bubbles; having a fizzy or frothy quality
Item 2
Soft, thick, and wet; like a paste that has lost its original shape
Item 3
A sweet, thick liquid — in Greek myth, the drink of the gods; in ordinary use, a rich fruit juice
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Critical Thinking
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