Children's Literature - Brenda Seabrooke's Teaching Guides

Brenda Seabrooke's Teaching Guides

THE HAUNTING OF SWAIN'S FANCY
By Brenda Seabrooke

"Seabrooke ably combines a ghost story with steps-sibling rivalry and a smattering of Civil War history in this well-crafted suspense story." - BOOKLIST

"The ghostly drama's source in the Civil War lends the whole an historical frisson entirely appropriate to the setting." - KIRKUS

"...a well-done, historical-mystery, ghost story with suspenseful pacing that will draw readers in. The added plot of adjusting to a new stepfamily is well integrated into the story." - SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

Dutton Children's Books
Grades 5 up $16.99 US, $25.50 CAN
ISBN: 0-525-46938-9

THE ORIGINS OF THIS BOOK

When I lived in the lower Shenandoah area of West Virginia, I enjoyed visiting historical houses open to the public, many of them built by Quakers in the 18th. century. The owners of one c. 1730 house told me it was haunted. I immediately wanted to write the story of that house. But when the characters, Taylor, Nicole, and Peter appeared, their story was blocked because that house wouldn't fit it. I changed that house to another one built c. 1751 in Winchester, Virginia and then the story began to flow. After I finished the book, I discovered that a Civil War soldier had died at the Virginia house in mysterious circumstances.

THEMES

You can accomplish more by helping each other.

Learn to put yourself in the places of others to see how they see.

Don't believe everything people tell you.

Try new things as Taylor did. You might find you have a hidden talent.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

Social Studies

Why was the Shenandoah Valley important in in the Civil War? Why was Martinsburg?

Many families like the Swains were divided by the Civil War. Divide into teams with each pair of teams taking opposite sides pretending to be Jason and Jared. Debate their reasons for joining the army. What was Thomas Swain's position? Do you agree or disagree with it?

What part did the railroad play in the Civil War? Find out when the railroad came to your town. How did its coming affect your town? Is the railroad still used for transportation of people and goods today? What other means of transportation is important to your town?

How were battles fought in the Civil War? How were battles different in later wars, World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf wars? Are modern modes of warfare better or worse? In what ways? Why were these wars fought?

Language Arts

Compare and contrast Taylor and Nicole. How are they alike? How are they different? Which one is right or wrong and why?

Choose a scene in which Taylor, Nicole, and Peter all appear. The scenes are all told from Taylor's point of view. Retell the same scene from Peter's and Nicole's point of view and write what you think they are thinking. How are these viewpoints different? The same? The book is written in third person. Try writing from first person. Which do you like better? Why?

At the end of Chapter 2, Taylor lists the reasons she thinks summer might be fun. Is she right? How is the end of Chapter 2 different from the end of the book?

Trace the appearances of the evil ghost and the characters' reactions to him. What mistake do they make about him? Did you make the same mistake? Why? What words made you think he was evil?

Find all the words in the book that mean ghost. Add other words (not in the book) that mean ghost and check their origins - Saxon, Celtic, Germanic, etc. Why does English have so many different words that mean the same thing?

Quotes to Question

Don't think like that, Taylor told herself. It's just an old house. p. 9

The silence here was the noisiest Taylor had ever heard. p.10

She was as welcome as Lyme disease. p.14

Two could play that game. p. 21

Well, when you're a kid, almost everybody is new. p. 60

He and Sylvia looked so touched that Taylor felt guilty. p. 88

The seance had been a success and a failure. p. 92

"I divorce her from being my step-sister." p.117

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