Endangered

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

PARTS 1-2

Reading Check

1. How old is Sophie?

2. What does Sophie name the baby bonobo?

3. When Chapter 4 opens, how long has it been since Sophie arrived in Kinshasa?

4. What is the name of the adult bonobo that Otto and Sophie become interested in and that Otto tries to get to play with him?

Short Answer

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

1. Why does Florence tell Sophie that it was wrong to bring the baby bonobo to the sanctuary?

2. How do Sophie’s actions show that she is determined to help Otto get well?

3. What unintended effect does Sophie learn that her buying Otto has had when the trafficker shows up at the bonobo sanctuary?

4. Why does Florence decide she must leave the sanctuary temporarily, despite the increasingly tense political situation in Kinshasa?

5. How does Sophie end up on the run from the United Nations officials?

Paired Resource

“More Than 1,700 Environmental Activists Murdered in the Past Decade”

• This brief Guardian article offers an overview of the serious dangers faced by environmental activists around the world.
• This resource relates to the themes of Dedication and Self-Sacrifice and Protecting the Endangered.
• Before reading this article, did you realize that environmental activists face so many threats? Do you agree that the work they are doing is important enough to risk death? Based on Sophie’s response to Florence’s work, what kinds of feelings do you imagine the families of these environmentalists struggle with? How is Sophie’s situation similar to and different from the situation of soldiers’, police officers’, and firefighters’ children?

“The Kids Who Live in Their Parents’ Shadows”

• This BBC article discusses several ways in which children can struggle to individuate from powerful or dynamic parents.
• This resource relates to the theme of Coming of Age.
• Based on your reading of this article, what are some of the ways children might behave as they struggle to find identities independent of their powerful, famous, or charismatic parents? What evidence is there in Endangered that Sophie’s coming-of-age process is impacted by her mother’s high-profile work as an environmentalist? In what ways is her journey toward independent adulthood similar to everybody else’s?

PART 3

Reading Check

1. When Sophie first enters the bonobo enclosure, which bonobo climbs onto Sophie’s back and grooms her?

2. Which bonobo does Sophie return to the nursery to rescue?

3. What does Sophie read while the bonobos are napping in the afternoon?

4. Which bonobo does Sophie begin to spend most of her time with as Otto becomes more independent?

Short Answer

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

1. What terrible sight does Sophie see when she climbs the tree in the enclosure and looks out at a nearby village?

2. What seems to change Anastasia’s mind about whether Sophie is a threat?

3. Why does Sophie hit Anastasia over the head with a stake?

4. How does Mushie demonstrate protective instincts toward Sophie?

5. What ability does Sophie have that makes her useful to the bonobos once the breadfruit in their enclosure ripens?

Paired Resource

“Birute Galdikas - Mother to Orangutans” and “Dian Fossey Narrates Her Life With Gorillas”

• The first resource, a 13-minute video, profiles orangutan researcher and conservationist Birute Galdikas, and it shares her love for the primates she studies. The second, a 3-minute video, is part of a talk that gorilla researcher and conservationist Dian Fossey gave about her work in 1973. Note: The Fossey video predates her 1985 murder, so if you do not wish to make students aware of it, they can enjoy this video without knowing about her death.
• These resources relate to the themes of Dedication and Self-Sacrifice and Protecting the Endangered.
• What does Galdikas love about orangutans? How has she dedicated her life to studying and preserving this species? How does seeing Fossey talk about her life with the mountain gorillas help you understand the hard work these researchers are willing to put into saving endangered species? Which characters in Endangered do Galdikas and Fossey seem most similar to? How does seeing them interact with orangutans and gorillas illuminate the experience that Sophie is having with the bonobos in this section of the book?

PART 4

Reading Check

1. Which bonobo is shot by the soldiers when Sophie first tries to leave for Kinshasa?

2. What disease does the schoolmaster use to frighten the soldiers away from the area where the school is?

3. Who gives Sophie a message from her mother?

4. What does Sophie give Wello as collateral until she can pay him?

Short Answer

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

1. Why does Sophie decide to head for Kinshasa?

2. During Sophie’s second attempt to leave for Kinshasa, what does she realize about the troop of bonobos?

3. How does Sophie finally manage to distract the bonobos long enough to get away from them?

4. What chance at safety does Sophie sacrifice because of her feeling of responsibility for Otto?

5. What assistance does Wello give Sophie on her journey?

Paired Resource

“The Truth About Owls”

• This Amal El-Mohtar short-short story is about a young refugee struggling to cope with feelings of anger and guilt and having an epiphany on a school field trip.
• This resource relates to the theme of Coming of Age.
• What feelings is Anisa struggling with? How much of her struggle is a result of being a refugee from a war-torn country, and how much of her struggle is just a typical part of growing up? How does the story’s setting in the owl sanctuary contribute to its meaning? In what ways is Sophie struggling with some similar feelings on her own journey? How does the setting of Sophie’s story impact her coming of age?

PARTS 5-7

Reading Check

1. When Sophie thinks it is raining, what does she discover is actually falling from the trees?

2. What does Bouain give Otto to drink?

3. What is Bouain’s necklace made of?

4. Besides Florence herself, who are the only two sanctuary staff members who survive?

Short Answer

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

1. How are Otto and Sophie separated?

2. Describe Otto’s and Sophie’s physical conditions when they finally arrive in Ikwa.

3. When Sophie and her mother are reunited, how does Florence explain not returning to the bonobo sanctuary to check on Sophie?

4. What surprise awaits Sophie and the sanctuary staff when they travel to the former president’s residence?

5. How do the events of the novel change Sophie’s attitude toward the DRC?

Recommended Next Reads 

Threatened by Eliot Schrefer

• The second novel in Schrefer’s Ape Quartet, Threatened tells the story of Luc, an orphan recruited to help a mysterious professor travel into a Gabon jungle to study chimpanzees.
• Shared themes include Coming of Age, Dedication and Self-Sacrifice, and Protecting the Endangered.
• Shared topics include young adult realistic fiction, adventure, African wilderness, great apes, conservation, endangered species, and mentorship.

The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch

• Lynch’s young adult novel features Miles O’Malley, a 13-year-old growing up in a dysfunctional family in the Pacific Northwest. After Miles witnesses something incredibly rare, he is unwillingly launched into the role of environmental prophet.
• Shared themes include Coming of Age, Dedication and Self-Sacrifice, and Protecting the Endangered.
• Shared topics include young adult realistic fiction, conservation, endangered species, and family struggles.
• The Highest Tide on SuperSummary