by Polly Horvath
5. How does Primrose feel when Uncle Jack says
he doesn’t want her?
Module One: Read Pages 1-30
a) Horrified
Due Date: _________________________
b) She admires his honesty
c) Confused
1. What shows how bad the storm was?
a) She has eyes like summer storms
d) She wishes for her parents
b) The rain was perpendicular to the house
6. Why did Uncle Jack decide to take Primrose
after all?
c) A little skiff wasn’t going to make it through
those waves
a) He wanted to try real estate
d) Miss Perfidy just nodded
b) Miss Honeycut annoyed him and he wanted
to spite her
c) He felt sorry for her
2. What bothers Primrose about Miss Perfidy?
a) She stalks off mid-sentence
b) The town was paying her from Primrose’s
parents’ bank account
d) He wanted to get a house with a gym
.
7. How can you tell that Miss Honeycut didn’t do a
very good job of counseling the children?
c) She was mean with money
a) Primrose finds out about it
d) She smelled like mothballs
b) Miss Perfidy doesn’t say goodbye
c) Primrose won’t accept that her parents are
dead
3. What shows that Miss Perfidy is careful with
money?
a) She didn’t want to leave her clothes for the
new owners
d) The girls laugh at her and make fun of her
8. What makes The Girl on the Red Swing special?
b) She took all her flowers when she moved
a) It gives a little something extra
c) She didn’t whale or fish or do naval things
b) They serve strawberries on a waffle
d) She sold her cottage
c) They serve absolutely everything on a waffle
d) The restaurant has class
4. Why did everyone in the hall start sniffing?
a) They all had colds
9. Primrose is most likely collecting recipes because...
b) They all smelled something
a) It will improve her uncle’s cooking
c) They wanted to figure out what Miss Perfidy
was smelling
b) She loves to cook
d) They were annoyed with Miss Honeycut
d) It makes her feel connected to her mother
c) She wants to work at the restaurant
10. Miss Honeycut probably baked cookies because...
Module Two: Read Pages 31-64
a) She likes Uncle Jack
b) She likes Primrose
Due Date: _________________________
c) She loves to bake
d) She made them in England
11. “Developing Cold Harbour” means Uncle Jack will…
a) rebuild the town
b) become a real estate agent
c) help the fishermen
Answer the questions on a separate piece of paper.
1. Why do you think Mr. Hardy wasn’t grateful to
learn that his cottage cheese was expired?
2. Why do you think someone keeps cutting
Dante’s leash? Do you agree or disagree with
what they are doing?
d) make changes in the town
12. Which of these is NOT one of Uncle Jack’s reasons
for developing Cold Harbour?
a) There aren’t enough fishermen to support
the town
b) Tourists will enjoy the town
3. The yellow raincoat means something different
to Primrose than it means to Sheriff Peters.
Explain what it means to each of them and why
they think the way they do.
.
4. Why might Uncle Jack have Primrose’s favorite
food and brought her a puppy?
c) There won’t be whaling much longer
d) Shopkeepers and doctors will lose money if
people start to move away
13. How does Uncle Jack feel when he takes risks?
5. What shows that Lena’s life is not as perfect as
she says it is?
.
6. Why does Uncle Jack want Primrose to bake
cinnamon rolls?
a) Nervous and scared
b) Excited and interested
c) Horrible and sick
d) Happy and calm
14. Why doesn’t Primrose want to be left alone?
a) She loves Uncle Jack
b) She wants to go to the Cinnamon House
7. What doesn’t Miss Boszer like about Uncle
Jack’s plan to develop Coal Harbour?
.
8. If you had to choose between living with Miss
Perfidy, Uncle Jack, and Miss Bowzer, who
would you choose? Why?
9. What shows that Miss Perfidy is having trouble
living alone?
c) The house makes frightening noises
d) It makes her think of her parents
10. Primrose is convinced that her parents are still
alive even though everyone says they are dead.
Do you think she is right? Why or why not?
15. What shows Primrose wrote the recipe on pg 30?
a) It does not give exact directions
Module Three: Read Pages 65-96
b) It is not a good recipe
c) It is written in the book
d) It is in her handwriting
Due Date: _________________________
1. Miss Bowzer most likely does not want to sell
her restaurant because...
a) Uncle Jack has not offered enough money
b) She loves waffles
c) She won’t have a job if she sells
d) She cares about the restaurant and town
6. Why do people think Primrose tried to “do
herself in?”
a) She doesn’t really believe her parents are
dead
b) She told a story about a man knocking on a
table
2. What shows that Miss Bailey is not a very kind
person?
a) She doesn’t want dogs in her house
b) She doesn’t want Primrose to go inside in
c) She is sad about her parents and didn’t try
to get out of the truck’s way
d) She wanted to cause a stir
case she bleeds on the carpet
c) She doesn’t want to stick around while
Uncle Jack shows her house
d) She burns cinnamon in the oven
7. What does Primrose most likely think
happened to her sweaters?
a) Miss Perfidy put them somewhere and then
forgot about it
b) Moths ate them
3. How does Primrose know she hasn’t injured
her brain?
a) She is thinking many things
b) Her foot hurts
c) Somebody stole them
d) Somebody brought them to Uncle Jack’s
house
c) Uncle Jack looks very serious
d) The doctor says she is lucky
4. How do most of the women in the book seem
to react to Uncle Jack?
a) They find him annoying
b) They fall in love with him
c) They respect him
d) They find him amusing
5. Why is Primrose excited to learn that Miss
Honeycut can talk to her sister without words?
a) It shows that you can believe in things even
when they don’t make sense
b) It shows how lucky she is to have Uncle Jack
c) It shows that Miss Honeycut really cares
about her sister
d) It shows that her missing toe does not really
matter
8. Why is Uncle Jack trying so hard to sell the
cinnamon house?
a) It is the most expensive
b) He likes the smell
c) He thinks it will sell the fastest
d) It is the hardest to sell
.
9. Why does Miss Honeycut suggest that
Primrose may need additional supervision?
a) She is worried about her
b) She thinks she needs a solarium
c) She wants to marry Uncle Jack and thinks
that Primrose will get in the way
d) She wants to make sure that Primrose has a
safe home
10. How did Uncle Jack make sure the boys would
let Primrose play hockey?
a) He said that if you play team sports, people
think you’re all right
b) He invited them over to use his gym
c) He told them they had to find a goalie who
15. On page 96, the word “variation” means...
a) Asian flavored casserole
b) Tuna casserole
c) Special type of recipe
d) Different way of doing something
was missing a toe
d) He asked them to carry the guinea pig’s
cage
11. Why does everyone feel sorry for Spinky?
a) His mother makes him wear a necktie
b) He was an orphan
c) He came from Cambodia
d) He had his foot blown off by a land mine
12. Miss Bowzer and Primrose most likely did not
want to ask Miss Honeycut for a pear soup
recipe because...
a) She probably wouldn’t give it to them
b) She isn’t a very nice person
c) She might tell them about her brother
d) It wouldn’t taste very good
.
13. Which of these is NOT a reason Miss Honeycut
thinks Primrose needs more supervision?
a) She is out in the rain
b) She spends a lot of time with Miss Bowzer
c) She is in a house full of boys
Module Four: Read Pages 97-124
Due Date: _________________________
Answer the questions on a separate piece of paper.
1. Why does Primrose think Miss Honeycut would
make someone good company? Do you agree or
disagree? Why?
2. How does Uncle Jack deal with his problems?
Why do you think it works so well?
3. Throughout the book, Primrose often tells the
reader what is going to happen before it
actually occurs (for example, on page 106, she
warns the reader that she is going to wind up in
a foster home). Why do you think the author
chose to do this?
.
4. What kind of people are Evie and Bert? Use
examples from the story to prove your answer.
5. On page 114, Primrose cries for the first time
since her parents disappeared. Why is this an
important moment in the story?
d) She was looking at the seals by herself
14. How does Primrose start the fire?
a) She sets fire to the guinea pig
b) She puts an apron over the cage and moves
it too close to the stove
6. Evie says you can be “sunk low like a sunk and
still have a joy in your heart.” Have you ever felt
sad and joyful at the same time? Explain.
.
7. How have Uncle Jack’s feelings about Primrose
changed? How can you tell?
c) She burns the tuna casserole
d) She leaves an apron lying on top of the
stove
8. Why does Primrose think tourists would like The
Girl on the Red Swing?
9. Why do Evie and Bert decide to move to Coal
Harbour?
4. What does Evie say is the bright side of the
fire?
a) The insurance will buy a new home
10. What is the most interesting recipe you have
read so far in this book? Which one would you
most like to try? Explain your answer.
b) Uncle Jack can help them get a mobile
home
c) She learned how to do macrame
Module Five: Read Pages 125 to the end of the book
d) Since all her stuff burned up, she has
room to put new things
Due Date: _________________________
5. What did Miss Perfidy know without believing
she knew it?
a) That she was going to die
1. Why are Primrose, Evie, and Bert the last ones
to arrive at the fire?
a) They are scared to get too close
b) What happened to Primrose’s sweaters
c) That her memory was failing
b) They want to make sure the
d) What she had done with her life
restaurant gets locked up
c) Evie has trouble walking in her high
heels
d) They have to finish their supper
.
6. How does Primrose know that Uncle Jack never
believed her parents were alive?
a) He told her so
b) He stood by her side all that time
2. How does Uncle Jack get hurt?
a) The doorframe falls in on him
c) When he sees them, he faints
d) He always sided with Miss Honeycut
b) He is stuck in the building with Miss
Honeycut
c) He is racing in six directions at once
d) His clothes catch on fire
7. Which of these things did NOT happen to
Primrose’s parents?
a) They were mistaken for grizzly bears
b) They got hypothermia
c) They lived like Robinson Crusoe
3. Why is it such a bad thing that the fire was
caused by faulty wiring?
a) The wiring could have killed somebody
b) Fires started by wiring are the most
dangerous
c) If Uncle Jack knew about it and didn’t
do anything, he could go to jail
d) Another fire could start up at any time
d) They had to abandon the fishing boat
8. Why does Primrose feel grateful for her
parents’ absence?
a) It gave her a chance to have new
experiences and meet new people
b) It made her appreciate them more
c) She never used to get along with them and
now she knows she is lucky to have them
d) She got to try living on her own
9. How can you tell Miss Bowzer likes Uncle Jack?
a) She makes him smile
b) She serves him a waffle
Final Activity
Due Date: _________________________
c) She added the meal he wanted to the menu
d) She visits him in the hospital
10. The book most likely ends with a waffle recipe
because…
a) Waffles are Primrose’s favorite food
b) Everyone loves The Girl on the Red Swing
c) It is the last recipe Primrose found
d) Waffles have been an important symbol in
the book
Answer these questions on a separate piece of paper.
11. Why do you think no one in Coal Harbour ever
hears from Miss Honeycut again?
Choose ONE of the following activities to complete.
You may work with other people who read the same
book as you.
1. Make a collage you might find hanging in the
bedroom of one of the characters from the story.
Write a paragraph explaining which character you
chose and why you selected each item in the
collage.
2. Create a poem or song that expresses the feelings
of one of the characters in the book and how those
feelings change throughout the story.
3. Create a board game based on the book.
12. The Girl on the Red Swing serves waffles with
everything. In the story, Primrose learned that
Coal Harbour wasn’t as small as she thought.
How are those two things related?
13. Were you surprised to learn that Primrose’s
parents were alive? Why or why not?
14. What do you think will happen to Primrose,
Uncle Jack, Miss Bowzer, and Evie and Bert in
the future? Explain your answer.
15. On pages 147 and 148, Primrose explains what
she has learned. Summarize what she says in
your own words. Do you think it was an
important lesson? Why or why not?
4. Draw a timeline of the book with at least ten
major events. Make sure each event has an
illustration and a short explanation (1-2 sentences).
5. Imagine you are creating a movie about this
book. Film a trailer/preview for the movie. If you
would like to see some examples of movie trailers,
look at...
 www.bit.ly/11sBoAx
 www.bit.ly/11ceKhg
 www.bit.ly/Qan8Uq
 www.bit.ly/11FCyZG
6. Create a scrapbook book report about your book.
You can see Ms Swark for an example of what this
might look like.
7. Write a series of letters (at least four) that some
of the characters in the novel might have written to
one another during the story. Make sure you
emphasize their thoughts and feelings about the
events in the story.