1. What does Robert want when he comes up to the table where Nissa, Christopher, and Sarah are sitting? What does Christopher say is odd about Robert's behavior lately?

2. What does Sarah ask Nissa when she accidentally encounters her in the hall?

3. What happened to Sarah's father? How does Sarah respond to his death?

4. What concerns Sarah about Robert?

5. Nissa warns Sarah about whom? Why does Sarah ask Nissa about Kaleo?

6. What had happened to Christine?

7. How does Sarah know she's in the right place when she arrives at Nikolas's house?

8. What does Sarah discover when she arrives at Christopher's house, and what is Nissa doing?

9. What does Christopher ask Sarah to do on Saturday and what does Sarah reply?

10. Why is Sarah nervous about coming to this house and what will happen to the humans at the party?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Shattered Mirror belongs to the fantasy genre. Discuss the following:

1. Define the literary term "genre" and give several examples of three other genres in addition to the fantasy genre.

2. Discuss two reasons why it might be useful to label a text by genre and two reasons it might be disadvantageous to label a text by genre.

3. What do you think is the difference between a fantasy and a historical novel or mystery?

Essay Topic 2

Sarah doesn't rest well and is sluggish when she goes to school the next day. When she finally gets her locker open, she knocks a vase of roses off the shelf, shattering the vase. The sound of the glass hitting the floor brings back memories of Sarah's father's death. Sarah had been the one to find her father's body on the front steps of their home. He'd been held by vampires for weeks, bled slowly, and died a painful death. Sarah discovered the body and had been so enraged that she'd lashed out, striking a window with her fist. Her mother was furious at Sarah's lack of control. As punishment, Sarah's powers were bound and she was forced to heal as a human would, slowly and painfully. She'd also been forced to train rigorously and taught to control herself.

1. Sarah is having a flashback when she thinks about her father's death. A flashback is a literary technique often used to relay information to a reader. Discuss two incidences of flashbacks in Shattered Mirror, how they were written, what information they conveyed and why they were important to the story. Use examples from your life and Shattered Mirror to support your answer.

2. Discuss the ways in which Sarah seeing her father's body on the front steps affected her life, both mentally, emotionally and in her beliefs about vampires. Use examples from your life and Shattered Mirror to support your answer.

3. Do you think Sarah's mother was unreasonable about Sarah's response to her father's body? Why or why not? Use examples from your life and Shattered Mirror to support your answer.

4. Do you think Sarah's mother's response to Sarah's anger about her father's death helped her gain self-control or do you think it may have simply made her suppress her emotions? Why or why not? Use examples from your life and Shattered Mirror to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Often, authors will write about "what they know," and sometimes knowing a little about the author makes the books more interesting. Discuss the following:

1. Research and give a brief biographical sketch of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes.

2. What in Atwater-Rhodes's background may have helped her in writing Shattered Mirror? What may have influenced the way she depicts various characters and scenes?

3. Do you think there is always some of the author's own life in his/her novels? Why or why not? Give examples.

(see the answer keys)

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