News Archives

Study Questions:

• “People say you always have to tell the truth. But they do not mean this because you are not allowed to tell people they are old and…if they smell funny…or if a grown up has made a fart” notes Christopher in a footnote. Should there be limits to telling the truth? If so, how do you determine those boundaries? Are there times when it is acceptable to tell an untruth? Knowing how lies have affected Christopher, are there boundaries to lies? Are lies needed at all?
• Christopher’s “project” with his father might be the most difficult of all the challenges he faces in this book. How do you rebuild trust in someone? Can you?
• Christopher explains, “Prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.” What does he mean by this paradoxical statement? What simile or metaphor would you use to describe life?
• Christopher challenges Rev. Peters on questions of God and heaven in the beginning of the book, and also confronts the reader with these same questions in chapter 199. What do you think about Christopher’s comment about heaven? How would you describe where God is to him?
• “People break rules all the time. For example…in the Bible it says Thou shall not kill but there were the Crusades, and two world wars and Gulf War and there were Christians killing people in all of them” rationalizes Christopher. Do people break rules all the time? Do we as Christians have some rules we choose to obey and some we do not? How does the context of the situation affect our decisions?
• Christopher did not understand why his teacher, Siobhan, forbid the words spaz, crip or mong and only allowed them use certain words to describe the students at his school. After all, people were already treating those kids derogatorily when they shouted, “special needs, special needs,” as the kids got off the bus. What is most hurtful: the words themselves or the way they are said? Is the old adage, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” true? Why or why not? Discuss the power that words have to both hurt and heal.
• Christopher takes the time to look at every detail of the world around him and criticizes most other people for only “glancing” at things. What do we miss by not paying attention to detail?
• At the train station Christopher becomes sad because he realizes he cannot be an astronaut. What profession do you think Christopher will have? Where do you think he will be 15 years from now?
• Christopher would allow his parents to touch only the tips of his fingers with their outstretched fingers. His reaction to touch is very different from most children, who like to be hugged. What effect does touch have on a parent’s relationship with their child?
• What really killed Wellington?

Activities:

• Idiom List: Christopher could not understand idioms because most of them do not make sense in 2005. However, most idioms have roots in reality somewhere. (For example, one possible origin of the phrase, “raining cats and dogs,” comes from a time when people had thatched roofs and the cats and dogs would sleep on the roof. When it rained, the roof became slippery and the animals would slide off the roof.) As the group is coming together, try to list as many idioms as you can think of and see if anyone knows the origin of the saying.
• Make ‘em laugh: Christopher knew and understood three jokes and took the time in his book to share one with us. Take some time to share your best joke with each other. Consider offering an award for the best one or the one Christopher would most likely understand. (Special points if it is math or science related.)
• Refresh your skills: Ask a local school or teacher for some math or science tests or homework assignments. Have fun sharing what you remember or appreciating Christopher’s mathematical abilities.

Atmosphere:

• Organize: Christopher hated vacations because there was no routine for the day. Make Christopher comfortable by creating a detailed schedule of events for everyone when they arrive. (Be creative. Remember creating a schedule is meant more for fun than to provide a rigid order for your time together.)
• Rank: Christopher classified each day by counting cars. For example, 4 yellow cars meant a Black Day, and 5 red cars in a row made it a Super Good Day. Create your own method of ranking your day and share with each other what your measurement was and how you ranked your day.
• Maps: Go to your local store, library or auto club and pick up some maps of the London Underground (“Tube”) system and a train schedule for England. Use a marker or sticky-notes to map out Christopher’s journey. If the maps are large enough, offer other notes or markers so group members who have been to England can mark their journeys, too.