Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu Reading Guide
Hazel and Jack are best friends, they always have been, and surely they always will be... Won't they? If Hazel had things her way the two would always spend their days going sledding, playing superhero baseball, and hanging out in the Shrieking Shack, but when Jack suffers an injury at school, everything changes. All of a sudden Jack is cold to Hazel. He stops spending time with her, stops speaking to her, he won't even look in her direction anymore. Hazel would do anything to figure out what's happened to her friend, and she'd give anything to set things back to the way they used to be. Things only get worse when Jack mysteriously disappears, his parents citing an elderly relative that Jack has been sent to care for.
Hazel is distraught and confused but when Jack's friend Tyler tells her that he saw Jack go off with a strange woman clad all in white who took Jack away on a wolf-drawn sleigh, things start to click into place for Hazel. Jack has been cursed, he hasn't changed, at least not on his own accord. Now, Hazel must venture into an enchanted forest, just like the one in all of the stories she grew up reading. Only nothing is as she expects it to be. There are no friendly sidekicks, or side quests that teach her valuable lessons. There are no rules in this magical forest, and Hazel has no idea what she is supposed to do. Still, she is determined to save Jack, even if she doesn't know if the Jack she saves will ever truly be the Jack she knew again.
Vocabulary by Chapter Index
Vocabulary from Chapters 10-14
Vocabulary from Chapters 15-19
Vocabulary from Chapters 20-25
Discussion Questions
The White Witch believes that Hazel has come to rescue Jack because her life is emptier without him in the real world. Do you believe that she's correct, or does Hazel have different motives in embarking on this quest?
What lessons does Hazel learn about family and her place in the world while in the woods? How do you think this will affect her outlook when she returns home?
Intertextuality is the complex interrelationship between a text and other texts taken as basic to the creation or interpretation of the text. How many references to other fantasy books and series can you spot in Breadcrumbs how do these references enhance or alter the way you interpret the book.
