Heartstopper: Volume One

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

Chapter 1

Reading Check

1. How do Charlie and Nick meet?

2. What happens to cause Charlie and Nick to become friends?

3. What does Tao Xu say about Nick?

4. What first impresses Nick about Charlie?

5. Why is Charlie nervous about joining the rugby team?

6. How does Charlie feel about the way Ben treats him?

7. Why are the other boys surprised when Charlie does well at rugby?

8. What happens to Charlie after rugby practice that leads Nick to interfere?

9. What is Nick thinking about in the car with his mom?

10. What does Charlie say to himself about his feelings for Nick?

Short Answer

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

1. How does the incident with Ben help Charlie and Nick become closer friends?

2. Which stereotypes become evident when Charlie joins the rugby team, and how do Charlie and Nick prove them wrong?

Paired Resource

“Microaggressions and Microinterventions in the Classroom”

• This brief online article from Florida State University defines the term microaggressions and offers examples especially pertinent to individuals and marginalized groups within a classroom setting, plus ways that teachers and classmates can work to counter with “microinterventions.”
• What effects do you think microaggressions have on LGBTQ+ youth? Connect this question to the theme The Damaging Nature of Bullying and Stereotyping.

“On Your Sex and Gender”

• Content warning: profanity and gender/sexuality slurs
• Young people describe the microaggressions they have experienced in relation to sexuality and gender and why they are harmful.
• What can young people do to combat microaggressions in school, at work, and elsewhere?

Chapter 2

Reading Check

1. What happened to Charlie when he came out as gay?

2. Why does Nick text Charlie the first time?

3. What does Charlie confide in Nick about?

4. Why does Tao Xu get angry with Charlie?

5. What does Charlie see on Nick’s phone that gives Nick the opening to invite Charlie to his house?

6. What happens that makes Charlie and Nick want to go outside?

7. What does Charlie borrow from Nick?

8. What does Nick want to do while Charlie is sleeping?

9. What does Nick search on the internet when he gets home from Charlie’s house?

10. Why do the boys start gossiping about Nick?

11. Why does Nick want Charlie to come to the birthday party?

12. What do people harass Nick about at the party?

13. How does Charlie finally end Ben’s abuse?

14. What pivotal moment occurs between Charlie and Nick at the party?   

Short Answer

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

1. How does Nick’s behavior toward Charlie change, leading Charlie to believe Nick might not be straight?         

2. Why does Tori comfort Charlie when he gets home from Nick’s house?

3. Why does Miss Singh criticize Nick’s rugby friends?

4. Why does Nick leave Charlie alone at the party?

Paired Resource

“Stages in the Coming Out Process”

• A short discussion on the coming out process from Skidmore College
• Relates to the novel’s theme of Coming Out and Self-Acceptance
• What parallels can you find between points made in the article and Charlie’s recollections of coming out in Chapter Two? How does the information in the article relate to Nick’s feelings and actions in Chapter Two?

“If Someone Comes Out to You”

• Brief bulleted points from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for friends of those coming out
• Connects to the themes of Coming Out and Self-Acceptance and The Damaging Nature of Bullying and Stereotyping
• Considering these recommended actions for friends, how did Charlie’s experience of coming out differ? How do the actions of Nick’s rugby friends as they speculate about his sexuality compare to the actions suggested in the article?

Recommended Next Reads

Heartstopper: Volume Two

• Second volume of the Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman
• Charlie and Nick’s relationship continues to develop as they confront issues around mental illness, bullying, and coming out. 
• Continues themes of Coming Out and Self-Acceptance, The Damaging Nature of Bullying and Stereotyping, and Love Against All Odds

This Book Is Gay

• Bestselling non-fiction book on sexuality and gender by Juno Dawson 
• Aimed at youth with goals to inform, educate, and promote acceptance
• Shared themes include Coming Out and Self-Acceptance and The Damaging Nature of Bullying and Stereotyping