ThirTeen DayS To MiDnighT - Hachette Book Group

educator’s guide

Thirteen Days
to Midnight

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D Trust
D F riendship
D Family
D Power
D Self-Sacrifice
Ages 8 – 12

By Patrick Carmen

Thirteen Days to Midnight

Discussion Questions

1. On page 1, Jacob chooses to let someone die, someone 9. The reader learns that Jacob did not know Mr. Fielding
he could have saved. Why does Jacob think letting her or Milo for more than a year, but Jacob trusts them
die is the right thing to do? implicitly. Based on Jacob’s background, why is he so
willing to trust these two? How does his trust prove
2. Jacob and Mr. Fielding’s relationship is built during the to be wise?
time they spend driving every Saturday morning to find
the perfect breakfast. What is ironic about the manner 10. Mr. Coffin and Father Tim know more than they admit,
in which Mr. Fielding dies? What role does fate play in in fact, they never really tell Jacob anything. How much
Mr. Fielding’s untimely death? do you think that they really know? How did they help
Mr. Fielding when he was alive?
3. Why does Jacob quit swearing? What does this say
about his feelings for Mr. Fielding? 11. When Milo and Jacob discover the rules of the power,
or the Black Lion, they realize how badly they have
4. Why does Mr. Fielding choose to pass on the gift of screwed up and how perilously close Oh is to death.
indestructibility to Jacob? Do you think this gift is a Knowing the decision they make to help save her could
curse or a blessing? Is Mr. Fielding’s reason for adopting also kill her, they follow through with their plan. What
Jacob connected to his special power? Why or why not? exactly is their plan? How is it supposed to work?

5. Jacob, Milo, and Oh sense the need for secrecy 12. Jacob, Oh, and Milo have played with death and the
and urgency regarding Jacob’s special power. result is not what they expected. How do their choices
What measures do they take to ensure both? to save lives upset the balance of the universe?

6. How does the change in the relationship between Oh 13. Jacob will never want for any material possessions
and Jacob affect the overall group dynamics? How does because of the inheritance Mr. Fielding leaves him.
the change affect them each individually? How does Knowing what you do about Jacob, how do you think
Oh use Jacob’s feelings for her to get what she wants he will use the money and property Mr. Fielding
from him? bequeaths to him?

7. Jacob’s attachment to his power increases the longer 14. What will be Jacob’s most difficult trial in living with
he possesses it. Why does he allow Oh to take his power? What do you think he will do to overcome
ownership of the power and to control how it is used? that challenge, or if he can’t overcome it, how will he
How does Jacob handle her possessiveness of most likely adjust to living with it?
the power?

8. The conflict between Ethan and Milo and Jacob
escalates after Ethan leaves Holy Cross and reunites
with his friend Boone. What finally happens to end
the battle between the four boys?

Thirteen Days to Midnight

Activities

Poetry Alive the established groups that function within their workplaces.
After collecting and reviewing the data from their parents,
Jacob personifies his superpower throughout the book, have students create a 3-D Venn diagram with both images
referring to the power as “it wanting to claw its way back and text to depict the comparison and contrast between
in” and a presence moving inside of him, sensing a threat high school and the “real” adult world.
from the outside. The author also personifies death, and
Jacob refers to death as a friend. Ask students to choose a Super Powers Abound
partner and to write a poem in two voices between two of
the following: Jacob, the power, and death. Have students In a society dominated by movies and television shows filled
perform their poems for the class. with superheroes and even ordinary people endowed with
extraordinary abilities, Jacob’s super power would have to be
The Technology Connection kept a secret or people would constantly be trying to kill him
— just to see if they could. After students have read Thirteen
Milo, Oh, and Jacob communicate throughout the book using Days to Midnight, ask them these questions, “If you could
their cell phones to call and text message one another. How only have one superpower, what would it be? Why would you
do cell phones with Internet and camera capabilities impact choose that one?” Students should respond to the question
teenagers in high school? What impact has text messaging through a skit, a poem, a song, a drawing, or another
had on the writing skills of users? What is the educational creative endeavor.
potential of cell phones and text messaging? Ask students
to form groups of three to investigate the laws, rules, and The Power to Save Lives
guidelines in their state and neighboring school districts to
determine what is deemed acceptable use of cell phones on Life expectancy has increased in the last 50 years, partly
school premises. Have students report current guidelines and because of a better quality of life. What impact has the
project possible future applications to the class using a rapidly increasing technological advances to enhance man’s
variety of creative methods. ability to save lives had on society? In small groups, ask
students to research longer life expectancy and the affect it
Living in a High School Microcosm has on the environment and ecological systems in the United
States. Students can present their findings to the class.
Whether they are deemed “popular” or not, teens are
constantly confronted with the issue of “fitting in” and being
part of a crowd as well as taking pride in their school.
Have the class brainstorm together the major student groups,
or cliques, in their school: athletes, Goths, preps, skaters,
kickers, and others. Then formulate a set of questions about
the formation and function of the groups. For example:
Who leads the group? How are the groups formed?
Is there a hierarchy within the group? Then ask students to
interview their parents about their work environments and

Thirteen Days to Midnight

about the book about the author

When Jacob’s foster father whispers, “You are Patrick Carman, bestselling
indestructible” seconds before dying in a car author of The Land of Elyon series
crash that should’ve killed them both, Jacob never (including The Dark Hills Divide,
imagines he could posess a real superpower. Beyond the Valley of Thorns and
To test it Jacob and his friends start indulging The Tenth City), grew up in Salem,
comic book-like fantasies. Later, they commit to Oregon. When he’s not writing
use this amazing power of indestructibility to do or speaking at schools, he can be
good in the world and save others from death. found in (or near) Walla Walla,
But how do they decide whom to save? And what Washington: fly fishing, playing
happens when they blur the lines of life and death, basketball, snowboarding, making
right and wrong, and good and evil? Thirteen Days videos, cheering for his kids at
to Midnight is a nail-biting tale of dark intrigue, soccer games, strumming his
powerful romance, friendship and adventure. guitar, surfing the Web, getting
Thirteen Days to Midnight involved in local and international
by Patrick Carman charities, and teaching tricks
to his dog Taffy. He also has
978-0-316-00403-9 been spotted in town reading
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and
also by Patrick Carman The Turn of the Screw by Henry
James, two of the inspirations for
Atherton: Atherton: Atherton: the story of Atherton. Learn more
The House of Power Rivers of Fire The Dark Planet about Patrick Carman on his web
site at www.patrickcarman.com.
978-0-316-16670-6 hc 978-0-316-16672-0 hc 978-0-316-16674-4 hc
978-0-316-16671-3 pb 978-0-316-16673-7 pb

AR 6.1, F&P U AR 6.2, F&P U

www.lbschoolandlibrary.com
Educator’s Guide prepared by Ellen Greene and Susan Geye