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Readers > Talk it Up! > Discussion guides > Regarding the Fountain

Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise

Summary

Dry Creek Middle School needs a new water fountain. Theirs is all dried up! So Principal Wally Russ calls on Flo Waters, water fountain designer, with a simple request to design a new one for their school. Little does he know, he's contacted a true individual, an artist who will not settle for anything less than the most imaginative, creative, pleasurable water fountain ever. Should it dispense shakes and ice-cream? Should goldfish live inside? Flo contacts students for their original ideas. Meanwhile, a controversy is brewing at Dry Creek. Things are not as dry as they seem. Told through letters, memos, newspaper articles, even receipt stubs, this novel is as engaging as it is hysterical.

138 pages, 4th grade and up

Discussion questions

Spoiler alert! Some of the questions contain key elements of the plot. Do not read if you don't want to know what happens!

  1. Have you ever read a book told through letters? Did you like it?
  2. What did you like about this format? What did you have trouble with?
  3. What would your ideal water fountain look like?
  4. When did you start to tell something was a little fishy in Dry Creek?
  5. What did you think about Flo Waters? What kind of person is she? How did she help solve the mystery?

Activities

Draw your ideal water fountain.

Snack ideas: Anything that could come out of the water fountain: soda pop, lemondae, ice-cream, shakes.

Created in part with funds granted by the Oregon State Library under the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Oregon State Library. Send feedback to Katie O'Dell, Reading Promotions Coordinator