The Ninth Nugget
by Ron Roy
Grades 2-5; Genre - Mystery; GRL N; AR pts: 1.0
N is for Nugget . . . Howdy from Montana, pardners! Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose are spending a week at a dude ranch. When they pan for gold, Josh finds a huge nugget. But gold fever has struck, and soon the nugget is stolen. It’s up to the kids to round up the thief.
Comprehension Questions
Chapter 1
- Summarize the premise of this story and who the characters are (you don’t need to include the main characters). The friends are in Wyoming at a ranch; they won this experience from helping the person who lost the lottery ticket; Ma and Pa own the ranch, Jud is their son, Lulu is the cook and Thumbs (but we’re not sure who he is yet) p.1
Chapter 2
- Summarize Thumb’s story around the campfire. A fire was started in the woods with lightning. A bear cub came running from the woods and was burned; they caught him and took him to the vet the next morning and when he was better, he was sent to a zoo. The mama bear came running through destroying everything, looking for her cub but couldn’t find it. The mama bear is still looking for her cub and comes through the camp 2-3 times each summer p.18
Chapter 3
- What do you think the noises on the porch were from? Listen to your child’s answer p.25
Chapter 4
- Choose a word to describe Josh and explain what his reward was. Determined; patient; he found a potato sized gold nugget p.34
Chapter 5
- Who are the other guests at the ranch? Fiona, Ed, the Clydes p.15
- Who stayed back at the ranch during the horse ride? Ed, Fiona, Thumbs p.42
Chapter 6
- Why do you think the dinner bell is ringing when it’s the afternoon? Listen to your child’s answer p.51
Chapter 7
- Were you correct in your prediction? Listen to your child’s answer
- What was the emergency? Someone had tied up Lulu, Fiona and Ed and the large nugget was missing from the safe p.52
Chapter 8
- Why do the friends suspect Thumbs? He was the only one who wasn’t on the ride the entire time. He could have tied everyone up, stole the gold and raced out to the meadow on his horse p.62
Chapter 9
- Do you agree that Josh lied to Ma to get out of playing cards? Why, or why not? Listen to your child’s answer p.71
Chapter 10
- Why is it suspicious that Ed is pacing and getting ready to leave the ranch? If he were the robber, he’d want to get off the ranch as quickly as possible so he wouldn’t get caught p.79
Chapter 11
- Use another word to describe Josh in this chapter and explain why you chose it. Selfless, charitable; he donated his nugget to the ranch to save it p.86