Charlesbridge D-39 A Roboog’s Journey User Guide
- June 3, 2024
- Charlesbridge
Table of Contents
Charles bridge D-39 A Robo Dog’s Journey
Hey hi ho there
About the Book
A civil war between corrupt President Vex’s government and the rebel Patriots
is heating up, but twelve-year-old Klynt Tovis is having the most boring
summer of her life. It’s all bunkers and ham radios and restoring artifacts
for her Museum of Fond Memories—not like there’s anything else to do on her
father’s farm in the middle of nowhere. Klynt is overjoyed when a D-39 robodog
appears on her doorstep, one of the many invented to replace near-extinct
dogs. When the conflict reaches the farm, Klynt, her best friend, and her
robodog are thrown together in an epic journey for hope and survival.
About the Author
Irene Latham is the author of many books, including two novels for children, Leaving Gee’s Bend and Don’t Feed the Boy. Winner of the 2016 ILA Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award, her poetry books for children include Nine, Dear Wandering Wildebeest, When the Sun Shines on Antarctica, Fresh Delicious, and Can I Touch Your Hair? (with Charles Waters), which was named a Charlotte Huck Honor Book and a Kirkus Best Book of 2018. Irene lives on a lake in Alabama where she does her best to “live her poem” every single day by laughing, playing the cello, and birdwatching.
About Poetry and Language
- What do you notice about the structure of each poem in this book? Are they different forms or all the same form?
- What do you notice about the structure of this book? How is each poem related to its neighbors?
- Read the author’s note. What are the author’s reasons for writing this novel in verse? How do you think it would be different if it were written in prose?
- Klynt uses many words that were invented for this book. What is your favorite? Were there any that you couldn’t decode from context without using the glossary?
- Who is Klynt speaking to throughout the book? Does the audience change over the course of the book?
About Family
- Why does Klynt’s mother not live with her family?
- What is Klynt’s relationship with her father like? Why do you think we don’t see him on the page until the conversation about D-39?
- Why do you think Klynt’s family hasn’t left the Anchor T Farm?
- How does Klynt’s relationship with D-39 change throughout the book?
- How is Klynt’s relationship with her family different from Jopa’s relationship with his?
- Do you accept Ersu’s explanation for why she left her family to run the K-9 Corridor? Why or why not?
About Setting
- How does Irene Latham establish the tone for this book? What is your mental image of the setting like?
- Ham radios feature heavily in D-39; what do you know about this technology? What kind of limitations does relying on shortwave communication impose on our characters?
- Why does Klynt curate her Museum of Fond Memories? What sort of things does she collect? If you established a Museum of Fond Memories, what would you put in it?
- Discuss the poem titled “Impossible,” on pages 18–19. What do you learn in this poem? Do you think the governmental and public reaction to BrkX described here is realistic?
- In “Reading to Jopa” on page 198, Klynt reads The Giver. Have you read this book? How does it compare to D-39?
- Consider Klynt and Jopa’s encounter with the government soldier. Why do you think she helps them?