Comprehension Questions – The Boxcar Children # 89 The Mystery of the Star Ruby

The Mystery of the Star Ruby

By Gertrude Chandler Warner

Grades 3-5; Genre - Fiction; GRL O; AR pts: 2.0

The Alden children enter a contest when they go visit an old mine and get to search for gems of all kinds.  But they run into trouble when Jessie’s star ruby gets stolen.

Comprehension Questions

Chapter 1

  1. Where did Grandfather and the children go to extend their vacation? gem mine  p. 2
  2. What was going on that week at the mine? A contest   p. 4
  3. Was the mine actually open anymore?  No   p. 6
  4. How do they get the ore if the mine is closed?  Bull doze it in from the creek and around the mine  p. 8

Chapter 2

  1. What kind of ruby did Donald find? Papa Bear ruby   p. 15
  2. What story does Mr. Knight use to rate the size of gems that are found? The Three Bears  p. 17
  3. What is the Goldilocks size of ruby? Star ruby   p. 19
  4. What did the children see while taking a walk that night? Lights over the mountain   p. 23

Chapter 3

  1. What did Mr. Knight say the lights were called?  Brown Mountain Lights   p. 27
  2. What were they caused from?  Gases in the mountain   p. 27
  3. Why was Donald grumpy?  He didn’t find any big gems   p. 32

Chapter 4

  1. What rock had Violet mined? Mama Bear ruby   p. 34
  2. Where did Violet put the ruby and its case? In her backpack   p. 35
  3. When the children were hiking, whose backpack went missing?  Jessie    p. 39
  4. Who has a backpack just like Jessie’s?  Violet    p. 44

Chapter 5

  1. Where did the children go with Jonathon to look for gems?  In the creek   p. 47
  2. What did Jonathon do to Benny’s stone?  He dropped it in the creek   p. 53
  3. What happened to the children’s collection of rocks they had found? Sybil kicked them into the creek   p. 54
  4. What did Henry see while they were creekin’? somebody in the trees    p. 55

Chapter 6

  1. What treasure did Jessie find?  Biggest star ruby that had ever been found at the mine p. 62
  2. What did Jessie want to do with the money from selling the star ruby? Buy books for the library that got struck by lightning   p. 65
  3. Why didn’t the children want to tell Grandfather about the note? He would worry   p. 66
  4. What went missing when the children came in from seeing the lights? Star ruby    p. 69

Chapter 7

  1. Who did Grandfather want to call when he heard about the missing ruby? Police    p. 71
  2. What was Jonathon doing when the children saw him?  Looking at papers  p. 75
  3. Why did the children think Jonathon could’ve stolen the ruby? He wants a gem for a ring  p. 80
  4. Was Henry able to stop the person down at the flume?  No    p. 82

Chapter 8

  1. What kind of stone did Violet find?  Amethyst   p. 86
  2. Did Sybil’s shirt match the scrap of cloth?   No    p. 88
  3. Where did the children go during the rainstorms?   Flume    p. 91
  4. What did they dig up?   Jessie’s star ruby    p. 92

Chapter 9

  1. How did Jonathon and Sybil respond to the children talking about the ruby?  Surprised  p. 99
  2. Where did the children go to look for Donald? Laundromat    p. 102
  3. Did the torn shirt match the scrap of cloth this time?   Yes    p. 103
  4. Who did the black pouch belong to?  Donald   p. 103

Chapter 10

  1. How did the children get out of the locked laundromat? Benny climbed out the window  p. 106
  2. Who ended up stealing the star ruby?  Donald   p. 116
  3. Who was Donald?  Mr. Knight’s cousin    p. 117
  4. Why was he causing trouble? He wanted the mine    p. 117