Make sure you've read the book before attempting to answer the questions. Print a copy of this assignment when you are finished.
Here's an excerpt to help with your review of the story.
Onion John
Krumgold, Joseph
Readability: 8
Newbery Award Winner
Setting: Small Coastal Town
Age of Main Character: Early Teens
"Onion John!" Everyone was calling his name. The ambulance swept past and everyone started
running to Hessian Hill. A horn honked. My friend ran up crying, "John's place exploded. The
ody was thrown clear. " I tried not to listen to him as we raced toward the fire. ohn wasn't
dead. He was rlningaway. Something was wrong!.
Onion John is a decidedly strange man who lives by himself and speaks a language of his own,
understood only by one young boy in the town. The townspeople make improving John's circumstances their calling. They build him a new house which John accidentally, or perhaps not accidentally burns down. He decides to leave town when he realizes that Andy, his young friend, is growing up and no longer believes in his unusual remedies for things. Andy and his father have a beautiful moment at the end when he tells his father how he feels about him. The last paragraph provides the feeling that Onion John is still around working his "magic" for the town.
Questions:
1. What is this story about?
2. How did John get his new house?
3. What happened to his house?
4. What did Andy tell his father about preparing to go to the moon someday?
5. What kind of "magic" could you perform? Why?
