A Tangle of Knots

Written by Lisa Graff

Published by Puffin Books an Imprint of Penguin Group (USA), 2013

A novel set in a magical world where everyone, well all most everyone, has a special Talent. The story is told from the perspectives of 9 different characters following most closely the life of eleven year old Cady. Cady has the special Talent of being able to bake the perfect cake for any one. This and many other talents are threatened by a Talent Thief. 

Lexile Level: 840L

Age Range: 8-11 years

Page Count: 230

Suggested Delivery: Whole Class Read-Aloud

Booklist Editors' Choice of 2013; Children's Choice Book of 2014

Key Words: Talent, Puzzle, Multiple Perspectives, Magical, Recipes

Internet Resources:

Lisa Graff's Webpage

http://www.lisagraff.com/a-tangle-of-knots.html

This is a great resource for both the teacher and the students. It has reading guides for the book that the teacher can use for activities while reading the book. It also has a link to an article where the author is asked what her favorite passage from the book was and why. This would be a great suppliment to the reading for the students. 

Character Map

https://magic.piktocart.com/output/12109100-a-tangle-of-knots

This is a self created chart including each of the main characters in the book. It details each of their talents and who they are related to in the novel. This is something that the students could refer to at the end of the novel and something that they could in turn create on their own with information about each of the characters they find important. 

Vocabulary:

• Tangled: twisted together messily.
• Emporium: a large store that sells a variety of items.
• Orphan: a child's whose parents have died.
• Heirloom: an object that has been in the family for many generations that is of value. 
• Delinquent: a young person that has a tendency to commit minor crimes.
• Intricate: very complicated or detailed.

Teaching Suggestions:

1. Since the book relies heavily on the view of the different characters have the students respond to the question: "Which character do you most connect with? Why do you think so? What were some of the points in the novel that the character was in that you liked the most?"
2. Have the students keep a character list in their reading journals with important facts that they find important to include. 
3. After reading really descriptive passages stop the reading and have the students respond in their reading journals what they see when they heard that part of the story. Ask them to also respond to how the passage made them feel upon hearing it. 

Reading Strategies:

1. Before: Since the story has to do with the idea of having a talent I think a great way to get the students engaged in the story would be for each student to answer the question: "If you could have any talent what would it be and why?" After the students have written it out, have them share with a partner.
2. During: There are 9 recipes in the text, after every other recipe, stop reading and have the students engage in a fishbowl discussion. Sample prompts include: What is the importance of Talents? Why does the Owner steal Talents of people? What do you think it would be like to have the Talents of the main characters? What would you do with them if you had them?
3.  After: Have students work in groups of 4 to pick out their favorite scene of the book. After they pick out their favorite scene ask them to rewrite it in the form of Readers' Theater. Give them the chance to write and rehearse the new scene to perform it for the class.

Writing Activity:

Have the students pick a scene in the story and have them rewrite it in one of the other characters perspectives that it was not told in. They will be asked to focus on the motives of the characters and why they did the things that they did.