The Shore Road Mystery

by Franklin W. Dixon

Grades 3-7; Genre - Fiction; GRL Q; AR pts. 5.0

Frank and Joe Hardy encounter a perplexing set of mysteries when they agree to help their friend Jack Dodd and his father locate a family treasure.

Comprehension Questions

Chapter 1

1. What mysterious happenings went on in this chapter? Someone was stealing cars; Jack’s boat hit something in the water that caused a hole; Jack said he had a 300 year old mystery his family wanted help with; their friend’s car was also stolen p.1

Chapter 2

1. Define what a pun is. The usually humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more of its meanings or the meaning of another word similar in sound p.13
2. What was the emergency at Jack’s farm? Jack and his dad were being accused of stealing the cars p.18
3. What evidence did the police have? The car was on their property, they police received a “tip-off” that they were the ashore Road thieves; Jack’s fishing pole was in the trunk of the car p.18

Chapter 3

1. How did the Dodd’s get out of prison? Mr. Hardy helped them post bail p.21
2. Summarize the other mystery the Dodd’s need helped with. The Pilgrim mystery; their ancestor left the Plymouth Colony with his family in a boat in search of a horseshoe-shaped inlet ((Barmet Bay); there was a storm and a bottle with a message; they want to find out what happened to their ancestor, if he made it to the inlet and/or if he perished in the storm; there’s a treasure chest of gems and journals p.22

Chapter 4

1. Why do the boys think that the Dodd’s might have been kidnapped? They were planning on being at the trial the next day; the boys were going to go over to the farm and discuss the Pilgrim mystery p.29
2. Why wouldn’t the boys allow the New York businessman to talk? They didn’t want to be pulled into a scam; they didn’t believe him p.35
3. Describe what happened at the boat house. The boys were attacked p.37

Chapter 5

1. How does the beginning of this chapter remind you of what Mr. Hardy is working on? The boys were gassed, and their father is also studying gasses p.39
2. What are the three mysteries the boys are solving and why do they think they’re all connected? The Dodd’s missing, the stolen cars, the Pilgrim mystery; the thieves could have kidnapped the Dodd’s because of the Pilgrim treasure p.44
3. What’s happens in this chapter to conclude that things are getting dangerous? The boys receive letters from people complaining they’re support for the Dodd’s and a grenade was thrown into their clubhouse window p.42

Chapter 6

1. What do you think the brown flecks of paint are? The paint from the car p.53
2. Why do you think there is a crash? Listen to your child’s answer p.53

Chapter 7

1. How is Chet’s study of plants coming in handy in this chapter? Hopefully Chet can identify the leaf in the Pilgrim mystery p.57
2. Explain what getting “a birds-eye view” means. Flying in an airplane and seeing the ground as a bird sees it p.61
3. Why did the boys think the last car in chapter 7 could be “a bite”? The car was racing wildly p.65

Chapter 8

1. Why is George Birnham suspicious? He blocked the boys two different times from being able to chase a car; he said he didn’t have a phone, but is in the phone book; his car was the first one stolen; his land was given to him by a member of the Dodd family p.70
2. Why is it a good thing that the boys checked out the fire before reporting it? Scratch was knocked unconscious in the middle of the fire and would have died if they had called the police first p.73

Chapter 9

1. What happened in this chapter? The boys took some friends swimming in a cove; one of the girls dove under the water and someone underwater threw a net around her; Frank saved her; that night two boys watched the intersection while two others went onto the Birnham farm; Slagel came and talked to the farmer and left; the farmer climbed into his big tractor and drive it at the boys camping in the field p.77

Chapter 10

1. Name two strange things that happened in this chapter. Slagel threatened the boys with a blade on the bottom of his cane; the boys found a note Slagel had telegraphed; the boys saw the spider human climbing a net; there was a fine steel-wire net string across the road the boys ran into p.89

Chapter 11

1. What’s a concussion? A brain injury caused by a blow to the head p.94
2. Did the boys find anything strange as they took their boat out on the water? They found rope netting; Tony saw a spider-man on the same cliff as the boys; heard a strange scraping noise under their boat; saw Carlton Melliman looking at them through binoculars p.99

Chapter 12

1. Who did the boys meet in the chapter? Martin Dobb, Jack’s uncle p.106
2. Why was he sneaking around and why did he keep himself disguised? So, he could go unnoticed while he figured out the Pilgrim’s clue p.107

Chapter 13

1. What was Chet’s job in this chapter and what did he find? To reconnaissance Birnham’s produce truck; he found tire tracks in the back of the truck and heard that Slagel was going to finish off the Hardy boys p.115

Chapter 14

1. Why do you think the boys got sleepy? Listen to your child’s answer p.125

Chapter 15

1. What decoy were the boys going to use to trick Slagel? They were going to buy a car p.130
2. What happened to the boys in this chapter? They followed the barge in their boat; Frank jumped out and swam to the barge; when he got there, someone hit him over the head, and he fell back into the water; Joe was there and got him back to their boat; someone in a diving suit came aboard their boat and knocked Chet out; Joe was ready to fight him at the end of the chapter p.132

Chapter 16

1. Why were the boys relieved when Tony swam back up to the surface after looking at the Dodd’s boat? They were worried the Dodd’s had been in the boat when it sank, but they weren’t p.137
2. Why are the boys leaving to Harpertown? Slagel threatened them and told them to leave town for 5 days; they’re going to purchase a car p.138

Chapter 17

1. How many tries did it take to get Slagel to steal the car? Why? Two; the first time the car wouldn’t start p.147

Chapter 18

1. Did the Trojan horse plan work? How? Yes; it got the boys to the hide out; they found the Dodd’s and figured out the operation p.156

Chapter 19

1. Did Chet come to the rescue with the police? Why, or why not? No, he was captured before he could get them p.165

Chapter 20

1. Did the car mystery have any correlation to the Pilgrim mystery? No p.174
2. How did solving the car mystery help them solve the Pilgrim mystery? After solving the car mystery, they were in the right place to find the mysterious leaf and the treasure chest full of jewels and journals p.175