Anything But Typical

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-5

Reading Check

1. When was Jason diagnosed with ASD?

2. In Jason’s research on writing good plots, he discovers a man who says there are only how many plots in storytelling?

3. Every morning, what’s the first thing that pops into Jason’s head?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What are some of the personality quirks of Jason’s nine-year-old brother, Jeremy? Where do their parents think these quirks came from?

2. Why is Jason fixated on letters?

Paired Resource

“Five Questions About Autism”

• The Aspire program at Mass General Hospital for Children created this video that helps viewers better understand ASD.
• In the video, we hear people with ASD answering the following 5 questions:

1. What is autism?
2. What’s hard about living with autism?
3. What do you wish people knew about autism?
4. Is autism something that should be “cured”?
5. What makes you special?

• What was the most illuminating thing you learned in this video?

• The Aspire participants comment on what is hardest about living with autism. Which of these challenges and unique experiences does Jason have or encounter as he navigates high school?

Chapters 6-10

Reading Check

1. Jason was disappointed that his family did not go where for their summer family vacation?

2. When Jason’s parents go on a date, who comes to babysit Jason and Jeremy?

3. In Chapter 8, PhoenixBird tells Jason that she is worried about what?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What are some of the reasons why Jason hates his art class with Mrs. Hawthorne?

2. How does Jason define an “unreliable narrator” in Chapter 10 and why does this definition matter in his recounting what happened in Mrs. Hawthorne’s art class?

Paired Resource

“Who Can You Trust? Unreliable Narrators”

• In this PBS Voices video, Lindsay Ellis explains the history and function of the “unreliable narrator” and teaches viewers how to identify the telltale signs of unreliable narration.  
• Is Jason more an intentional or unintentional “unreliable narrator”? Is it possible that he is both?

Chapters 11-15

Reading Check

1. What does Jason’s Uncle Bobby do for work?

2. What does “Bennu” mean in Egyptian?

3. What do Jason’s shredded math book pieces remind him of?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Jason find it easier, generally speaking, to be around his father than around his mother?

2. What is the underlying reason why Jason’s mother is fixated on Jeremy’s food quirk of never wanting his food to touch, according to Jason?

Chapters 16-20

Reading Check

1. What is the word that Jason thinks of while the PE teacher throws basketballs in Chapter 16?

2. What is the name of Jason’s old dog?

3. Where is the Storyboard convention being held?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Jason not pleased that Rebecca will also be attending the Storyboard conference?

2. What does Jason’s relationship with his dog, Lester, say about Jason’s personality? When choosing a dog from the shelter, why does Jason choose Lester?

Paired Resource

“What It’s Really Like to Have Autism”

• In this TED Talk, Ethan Lisi encourages viewers to see autism as “not a disease,” but just “another way of thinking.”
• How does Jason’s ASD give him a unique perspective as a writer? Consider how his experience as Atypical Versus Neurotypical might influence the kinds of stories he writes, as well as the way he writes them.

Chapters 21-25

Reading Check

1. Why does the school principal (erroneously) congratulate Jason over the school’s loudspeaker?

2. Because he is upset about potentially meeting Rebecca at Storyboard, Jason tells Jeremy that he feels like his brain is crawling with what?

3. What present did Jason’s dad buy for him on his fourth birthday that he hated but pretended to like?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is Jason’s fantasy about meeting Rebecca in Chapter 24? Why does he have this fantasy?

2. In Dallas, what happens at the entrance to the conference hotel, and why does this incident upset Jason?

Paired Resource

“Be the Light: Elizabeth Bonker’s 2022 Valedictorian Speech at Rollins College Commencement”

• Elizabeth Bonker, like Jason, is an autistic young person affected by non-speaking autism. She was named the 2022 Valedictorian at Rollins College.
• In this video, Bonker delivers her commencement speech, and discusses her lifelong struggle with not being heard or accepted. She celebrates how she has been able to make her own way, despite others’ perception of her.
• What does Bonker say that helps us better understand how Jason might navigate college as an Atypical Versus Neurotypical person?

Chapters 26-32

Reading Check

1. In the conference hall, Jason is shocked out of a fantasy about Rebecca by a man dressed as what character?

2. When Jason and Rebecca first meet, how does Jason describe Rebecca’s smell?

3. What desire do both Jason and his mother share, as we learn in Chapter 28 when Jason’s mother lies to his father and says they are both having a great time at the conference?

4. How does Rebecca avoid Jason’s gaze at the breakfast buffet?

5. In Chapter 30, what sport is Jason playing in his childhood memory?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Jason realize as he looks at himself in the mirror, trying to make his face completely still before the party for the Storyboarders?

2. How does Jason end his story about Bennu?

Recommended Next Reads

Uniquely Human by Barry M. Prizant

• This 2015 work of non-fiction argues that a new clinical approach to children with autism must be found, because traditional approaches are not only ineffective but actively harmful.
• Rather than trying to change the person with autism by eliminating their symptoms, Prizant encourages parents and educators to understand the experiences of individuals with autism and the reasons behind their behavior.
• Uniquely Human on SuperSummary

“I Am Special Just Like You” by Jacki Bielinski

• The author, who is the grandmother of an autistic boy, wrote this poem to help provide insight into how her grandson copes with daily life.
• In a child-like tone and with playful animal imagery, the poem explains her grandson’s symptoms and ends with a call for acceptance

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

• A bestselling novel that is written from the perspective of a boy with autism who seeks to find out who killed his neighbor’s dog and why
• The mystery in the novel is heightened by the fact that the story is told from the perspective of someone with autism who sees the world in a unique way.
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on SuperSummary
• How does use of an “unreliable” narrator help build suspense in this novel?