Discussion Questions for Stakeout by Bonnie J. Doerr

A surreal encounter with an ancient sea turtle propels Kenzie into peril in the Florida Keys… 

A haunting promise compels Kenzie to save sea turtles. When thieves rob the turtle nests, she determines to stop them. Fearless, wheelchair-bound Ana and savvy, island native Angelo assist Kenzie in an undercover sting operation. But as the stakes get higher, Kenzie fears losing her best friend and her own life.

Stakeout includes notes on the endangered hawksbill and loggerhead turtles as well as information about the Turtle Hospital in Marathon, Florida.

If your class or group is reading Stakeout, here are some questions about the book:

Discussion Questions for Stakeout by Bonnie J. Doerr

Created by Mary Helen Sheriff

1.     What did you like about the book?  What did you dislike?  Why?

2.     What did Kenzie and Key Teens Care do to help the turtles?  Can you think of other things they could of have done?  Are any animals endangered in your community?  Are there organizations that support them?

3.     Describe the relationship between Angelo and Kenzie?  What do they have in common?  What is the source of trouble in their relationship?

4.     How does Kenzie’s relationship with Mike change over the course of the novel?

5.     Describe Fisher.  Describe Edna.  In what ways are they similar?  In what ways are they different?

6.     Give some examples of Kenzie’s dishonesty and explain why she was dishonest.  Would you have made the same choices as Kenzie?  Why or Why not?  How would you have handled Kenzie if you were her mother?

7.     List the clues that led to pinpointing the culprit.

8.     Describe Big Pine Key.  How does the setting influence the story?

9.     Shalima sells a product that promises luxurious hair and flawless, radiant skin.  Does this product actually provide this? Do you have any experience with buying products that aren’t all that they are advertised as?  What can people do to protect themselves from false advertising?

10.  What interesting facts did you learn about turtles from reading this book?

Answer Key can be found here.

BLOG AUTHOR

Mary Helen Sheriff lives in Richmond, VA with her husband, two children, and two cats. She has an MFA in children’s literature from Hollins University and is an experienced teacher of elementary, middle grade, and college students. Her most recent publishing credits include four middle grade short stories for a reading comprehension website and a YA short story for an anthology written for Ethiopians learning English. She is currently writing a novel and maintaining a blog where you can read her thoughts on writing and education. 

What Are You Doing to Go Green?

From now until the end of April, schools around the country are working on going green. If you want information on a start-up kit for your school, you can contact GEF, the Green Education Foundation. The site also offers lesson plans and ideas. Be sure to share your results with GEF to be entered in a drawing for a Green in Action award.  Winners get $250 for their classrooms.

Here's what one school did:



Leap Books supports environmental action in many ways. We've gone green in our book printing and office practices. And we publish authors who not only write about environmental themes, but are active in helping the planet.

Bonnie J. Doerr researches endangered animals, but she doesn't just get the facts. She helps the organizations by participating and doing fundraising. A portion of the sale of Doerr's books have gone to assisting the National Key Deer Refuge and the Turtle Hospital.




Doerr was recently featured as a green author on Linda Martin Andersen's blog and enjoyed this opportunity to promote "green" writing / living and National Green Week. To find out more about Doerr, vist her at Bonnie Blogs Green or read all about her the Girls Scouts website, where she is a featured author. Bonnie's books include Stakeout and Island Sting. She's researching in the Florida Keys right now on her next eco-mystery on pelicans.

Celebrate Earth Day with Us!!

Sea turtles hatching

Part of caring for the earth is rescuing endangered animals. Leap Books author Bonnie J. Doerr is passionate about saving species from extinction. She pours her passion into her books--eco-mysteries where green teens capture poachers and clean up the environment at the same time. But Bonnie doesn't just write about the endangered animals, she does hands-on research. Here's Bonnie on a pelican release:

Bonnie J. Doerr researching for her third eco-mystery about pelicans

And at the Key Deer Refuge in the Florida Keys:

Bonnie with a full-grown Key deer

And here are a few videos about Bonnie's research:





While in the Florida Keys to research for her books, Bonnie spent time doing interviews and making videos to let people know about the problems endangered species face:





Bonnie's books include the EPIC award-winning tween novel, Island Sting, about the Florida Key deer,

and the Green Earth award finalist, Stakeout, about loggerhead and hawksbill turtles:

In an interview with the Authors for Earth Day blog, Bonnie explained why she writes her books:

"My dream is to rekindle that spark of wonder and fascination with wild things by providing fun, fast-paced stories featuring young teens as environmental heroes. I write stories that organically show, rather than tell, young impressionable readers how fragile our environment is. I write especially for ages ten to thirteen. Readers this age are shaping enduring personal goals and values." Bonnie hopes those values include caring for our fragile planet.

To learn more about Bonnie J. Doerr, visit her website and her blog BonnieBlogsGreen. Bonnie is also featured on the Girl Scout website, Aurora Reviews (who gave Stakeout a 5-star review), and TBR.

To celebrate Earth Day, Island Sting and Stakeout are both on sale in the Leap Books store for 40% off. And the Island Sting e-book is FREE for Amazon Prime members and only 99 cents for other Amazon shoppers. Watch for the Stakeout e-book coming soon.

If you leave a comment below from now until April 30, 2012, your name will be entered in drawing for a free e-book or an autographed paperback of Stakeout or Island Sting. Enter as often as you wish. And let us know if you send friends, and we'll give you an extra entry.

Go forth and be GREEN!

Danger: Crime Scene

Author Bonnie J. Doerr appeared at Barnhills Bookstore in Winston-Salem, NC, on Saturday, November 12, 2011. The audience enjoyed her presentation about her hands-on research before she writes her mysteries about endangered animals.

Here are some photos of her presentations and booksignings after each event. Note the crime scene tape adorning the book display table and around the author's neck.

Here's the audience for the first sitting eagerly watching her slides about Key deer, sea turtles, and pelicans. To accommodate the crowds, Doerr did a second presentation.

Fans line up for autographs at the end of the first presentation.

Going Green

Leap Books has joined the Eco-Libris Green Books Campaign. When you read one of our books, you know it's been printed on FSC-certified paper. And as part of our commitment to being green we've joined this campaign to plants trees to replace those that are used for books. We also will be offering our books as e-books to save even more trees. Watch for our e-titles on Amazon soon. Leap Books has also made other commitments to the environment--profits from the sale of Bonnie J. Doerr's book Island Sting, an eco-mystery about kids saving the environment and rescuing the endangered Key deer from poachers, has funded several eco-friendly projects. You can read more about them at BonnieBlogsGreen.

SCBWI MD/VA/WV -- A Great Success

Author Bonnie J. Doerr is back after speaking at the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) conference in Maryland, where she had a great time meeting fellow writers and discussing how she balances her mystery plot with factual information about endangered animals.

She now has many fans waiting for Book 2 in her eco-mystery series: Stakeout. And Book 3 is underway, so all the teachers and librarians at the conference will have more great books for their schools and libraries. Keep an eye out for a sneak peek at Stakeout, which is coming soon. Kenzie's back and this time she's rescuing sea turtles--in a stolen boat, no less.

Celebrate Earth Day

Do something wonderful for the planet today. Pick up trash. Turn off the electricity for an hour. Or try one of the main ways our author, Bonnie J. Doerr has compiled to help save the environment. She made a list of 25 suggestions. We'll post them a list next week when you find out more about Bonnie. In the meantime, here are two quick suggestions you can try:

1.    Downloading music saves production of the greenhouse gas produced during the making, packaging, and distribution of the discs UNLESS you burn a CD.

2.    Americans eat at least four servings of beef a week. If you consume only one less beef meal a week you can reduce your environmental footprint by 25%. Why care? Raising cows requires acres of land, tons of water, grain, and pesticides. And cows produce a staggering amount of methane (yes, through belching and “tooting”), thus contributing to global warming.

Stay tuned for more environmentally friendly ideas or visit Ms. Doerr at Bonnie Blogs Green for more ways to save the planet. Better yet, pick up a copy of her book Island Sting to see how other green teens not only save the environment, but also nab the poacher of the endangered Key deer.

DANGER--INTRIGUE--ADVENTURE...

Pelican Release

Wondering what author Bonnie J. Doerr is up to on her trip to the Florida Keys? She'll soon be doing author visits (check out the schedule below for more information), but in her spare time, Bonnie's doing what she loves best--working to save the environment.

Today she assisted with a pelican release. She sent us a picture of the release, part of the mission of the Key West Wildlife Center. And guess what Book 3 will be in Bonnie's series? That's right. A pelican rescue.

If you haven't read Book 1, about the Key deer, you'll want to start with that. Book 2 will be about turtles. And now you know what you'll have to look forward to in Book 3. One of the reasons Bonnie's books are so much fun is that she does hands-on research. So her books take you right to the scene. It doesn't get any better than that.

Or wait, maybe it does... Stop by the Key West Wildlife Center on Sunday, February 7 for the Family Fun Day Fund Raiser from 1-4 pm. Proceeds from the book sales will be donated to the wildlife center, so you can meet Bonnie in person, get an autographed copy of Island Sting, and help endangered species at the same time.

Oh, and don't forget to ask about the pelican release.