Tor Teen Reader’s Guide
About This Guide
The information, activities, and discussion questions that follow are intended to enhance your reading of Cosmic Storm. Please feel free to adapt these materials to suit your needs and interests.
Writing and Research Activities
I. Life in Space
A. Many Galahad crew members keep mementos of their life and family from Earth. If you had been chosen to leave your family for a lifelong space expedition, what small keepsake might you choose to bring? Write a paragraph describing your keepsake, or create one using craft materials.
B. Based on clues from the novel, draw a blueprint or sketch of Galahad, including the Spider bay, Sick House, Domes, cafeteria, and other areas mentioned in the story. Imagine you are keeping a journal on behalf of the crew of Galahad. Write an entry describing your home in space to accompany your drawing.
C. Roc, the ship’s computer, is an important character in Galahad. Make a list of at least ten ways that Roc assists the crew and/or ten quotes from the novel in which he gives advice to the humans aboard the ship. Then, with friends or classmates, debate whether or not Galahad’s designers’ decision to give Roc a humorous personality was a good idea. Use your list to support your position.
D. Write a poem, short story, or song lyrics describing what it’s like to live on a space ship traveling away from Earth, never to return.
II. Loss
A. Imagine you are a crew member aboard Galahad. Write several journal entries describing how you feel about the absence of Triana, the way the Council members are handling the need for a new leader, and the compromise to the ship’s protective shield. What emotions—anger, fear, curiosity, nervousness, frustration, excitement—do you feel most?
B. With friends or classmates, role-play a conversation in which you give Bon, Lita, or Gap advice about dealing with their grief over the death of Alexa. If desired, use library or online resources to research ways to deal with grief and use this information in your role-play.
C. Did Triana make the right decision riding into the wormhole? In the character of Gap, Lita, Bon, or Channy, write an online journal entry confessing your true feelings about what happened when your leader went missing, and whether you think the crew of Galahad should allow her to resume her position upon her return.
III. Leadership
A. What makes a great leader? Go to the library or online to learn more about great leaders through history. Choose one leader and create an informational poster about this individual. With friends or classmates, create a display of great leader posters.
B. Make a class brainstorm list of important qualities for leadership. If possible, use information from activity III.A, above, to help you. When your list is complete, number the qualities in order of importance. Is there one quality which all leaders must share? Are there different but equally valid ways to lead? Write a short report analyzing your class list and discussion, and stating whether or not you agree with the conclusions of the class.
C. Would your class vote for Gap or Hannah to become the new Council Leader? Hold an election in your classroom. Tabulate and report the results of the vote. Afterward, invite students to discuss how they chose their candidate.
D. Learn more about politics in your city or town. Collect newspaper articles about upcoming elections. Write an article about local government for your school paper. Or volunteer to help with a political campaign. Write an essay explaining why it is (or, if you disagree, why it is not) important that young people participate in government.
E. Who do you think won the Galahad election? What will happen next to the ship and its crew? Will the vultures attack? What do you think Triana brought back from the wormhole? Write one to three paragraphs describing your predictions for the next Galahad novel. Include a title suggestion if desired.
Questions for Discussion
1. The novel opens with Roc, the spaceship computer, commenting that, like wormholes, “rules change for people, too, depending upon what suits them at the time.” Do you agree with this comment? To what kind of “rules” do you think Roc refers? As you read the novel, for which characters do you think the rules have changed? Which characters remain true to their beliefs and attitudes despite the current crisis?
2. Describe Gap’s reaction to Triana’s departure from the ship. How do Lita, Bon, and Channy seem to feel about the new leadership situation early in the novel? If you were a crew member on Galahad, would you be comfortable with Gap in charge?
3. Channy tells Bon there were “two people on this ship that you had feelings for, and they’re both gone” (p. 24). Describe Bon’s feelings for both of these people. How might Gap’s feelings for Triana and Hannah put him in a similar emotional situation? Are either Gap or Bon able to discuss these feelings with others?
4. Why does Hannah decide to run for the position of Council Leader? Do you think her intentions are honorable? What qualities does she have that might make her a good choice for the position? What advice might you give her about her relationship with Merit?
5. Do you think Bon is right to refuse Gap’s request to hold the translator until a new Council Leader is elected? Do you agree with Gap’s decision to allow Bon to keep the translator until the election? Explain your answers.
6. How does Bon describe his relationship with the Cassini? Despite the pain, do you feel that he likes connecting with them? Can he resist them? If you were Bon, would you be worried about the Cassini’s effects on your brain?
7. Compare the first and second election forums in terms of their structure, the attitudes of Gap and Hannah, and the reactions of the crowd. Do you think there was a clear winner or loser at either forum? Why or why not?
8. When Lita realizes that Bon was trying to reach Alexa and not Triana, how does this change her understanding of Bon? Do Bon’s actions suggest that, despite his gruff exterior, he has some kind of faith? How might you describe that faith? How might this relate to the kind of faith Gap encourages the crew to find when he addresses them in the second election forum?
9. From “waves” to “bruises,” what theory explaining the shield malfunctions is most convincing to you? Can you imagine living on a spaceship where your life was constantly, at some level, in peril? How do you think you might handle such stress? Does it make sense to you that members of the crew are acting out?
10. What is Lita’s theory about Gap’s connection with the Cassini and the events that have occurred since Triana left the ship? If Lita is correct, do you think Bon should be studied, restrained, or otherwise treated differently than the rest of the council and crew? If so, in what way and why?
11. How does the novel’s final scene, in the Spider bay, reveal a change in the relationship between Gap and Bon? What other relationships have changed by the novel’s end?
12. What has Gap learned about leadership and, perhaps, its relationship to friendship and even love by the novel’s end? Has this novel affected the way you think about leadership roles you take on in your own life? Explain your answer.