Quiz A House with Good Bones T. Kingfisher

A House with Good Bones: Full Book Quiz

Plot & Sequence Questions (8)

  1. What event causes Sam’s archaeological dig to be halted at the beginning of the novel?

    • A. The site runs out of funding
    • B. Human remains are discovered on the dig site
    • C. A severe storm floods the excavation area
    • D. Sam’s boss (Dr. Wilcox) is injured

  2. In Chapter 4, what alarming observation does Sam make when she first explores the garden?

    • A. The rosebushes are completely dead
    • B. A large sinkhole has formed near the fence
    • C. There are no insects anywhere in the yard
    • D. The garden is overrun with ladybugs

  3. What object does Sam unearth while digging a pitfall trap under the rosebushes in Chapter 15?

    • A. A child’s toy skeleton
    • B. A jar filled with hundreds of human teeth
    • C. A metal box containing old love letters
    • D. A buried rose bush root system

  4. How does Gran Mae first physically appear to Sam during the Sunday dinner in Chapter 19?

    • A. As a glowing apparition in the doorway
    • B. As a construct made of rose petals sitting at the table
    • C. As a disembodied voice coming from the walls
    • D. As a swarm of ladybugs forming a human shape

  5. What catastrophic event happens in the dining room during Chapter 23?

    • A. A fire breaks out from the candles
    • B. The floor collapses, burying the first floor in raw earth
    • C. The ceiling caves in from water damage
    • D. A tornado tears off the roof

  6. What substance does Gail use to destroy the rose‑petal puppet of Gran Mae?

    • A. Holy water
    • B. Rock salt
    • C. Weed killer (herbicide)
    • D. Vinegar and baking soda

  7. How does Sam finally defeat the underground children in Chapter 26?

    • A. She leads them into a trap dug by Phil
    • B. She plunges her arm into the roses and commands them to burn
    • C. She sprays them with the same weed killer Gail used
    • D. She recites a prayer while holding a jar of teeth

  8. What explanation does the family give the authorities for the house’s destruction?

    • A. They claim it was a gas explosion
    • B. They say a sinkhole swallowed the house
    • C. They report a lightning strike caused a fire
    • D. They blame a structural failure in the foundation

Character Motivation Questions (5)

  1. Why does Sam’s mother (Edith) repaint the entire house in whites and ecru?

    • A. To make the house easier to sell
    • B. She was influenced by a home‑decorating magazine
    • C. She hopes to appease Gran Mae’s ghost and stop the haunting
    • D. Sam’s father had always hated bright colors

  2. Why did Gran Mae collect and keep hundreds of human teeth (including her own husband’s cremated teeth)?

    • A. They were a trophy from her hospice patients
    • B. She used them in magical rituals to contain the underground children
    • C. She planned to sell them to a medical school
    • D. They were simply sentimental keepsakes

  3. What is Gail’s primary reason for keeping a pet vulture named Hermes?

    • A. He is a registered therapy animal
    • B. Vultures serve as her familiars and psychopomps in her witchcraft
    • C. She rescued him from a car accident
    • D. He helps her garden by eating pests

  4. Why does Sam resist accepting the supernatural explanation for events even after seeing the jar of teeth and the hand in her photo?

    • A. She fears being diagnosed with a mental illness
    • B. Her training as an archaeoentomologist makes her rely on scientific reasoning
    • C. She does not want to admit her mother is lying
    • D. She has a personal grudge against Gail

  5. Why does Sam’s mother suddenly insist on saying grace before dinner, something she never did before?

    • A. She has recently become very religious
    • B. She is mimicking Gran Mae’s habits to avoid provoking her ghost
    • C. She wants to set a good example for Sam
    • D. She read a book that recommended it for anxiety

Theme & Symbol Questions (4)

  1. What do the black vultures that gather on the mailbox and rooftop symbolize most directly?

    • A. Environmental pollution in the neighborhood
    • B. Impending death and supernatural surveillance over the house
    • C. The family’s love of nature
    • D. Good luck and prosperity

  2. What do the rosebushes in the garden primarily represent?

    • A. The beauty and fragility of life
    • B. Gran Mae’s controlling magic, the family legacy, and a protective barrier
    • C. Sam’s childhood innocence
    • D. The gardening hobby of the neighborhood

  3. What does the complete absence of insects in the garden (described in Chapter 4 and beyond) symbolize?

    • A. The success of a new pesticide experiment
    • B. The unnatural, stifling influence of Gran Mae’s magic on the environment
    • C. A sign that the soil is contaminated
    • D. A seasonal change that Sam overlooked

  4. What does the Confederate wedding painting that Gran Mae insisted on keeping represent?

    • A. Sam’s mother’s taste in art
    • B. The family’s Southern heritage and pride
    • C. Gran Mae’s outdated values, desire for a “normal” perfect family, and erasure of the past
    • D. A treasured heirloom with no deeper meaning

Synthesis Questions (3)

  1. How does Sam’s final use of the roses’ power both connect her to Gran Mae and distinguish her from her grandmother? (Answer in 2–3 sentences.)

  2. Gail tells Sam that her scientific skepticism and archaeological training create a double standard when she dismisses magic. In what ways does Sam’s scientific approach actually help her survive the supernatural threat? (Answer in 2–3 sentences.)

  3. The “underground children” are hybrids created by Elgar Mills’ alchemy. What broader theme about family secrets and buried trauma do these creatures embody? (Answer in 2–3 sentences.)

Answer Key

Plot & Sequence

  1. B. Human remains are discovered on the dig site. (Chapter 1 establishes the dig was halted after human remains were found.)
  2. C. There are no insects anywhere in the yard. (Chapter 4: Sam, an entomologist, is alarmed by the total absence of insects.)
  3. B. A jar filled with hundreds of human teeth. (Chapter 15: Sam digs a pitfall trap and uncovers the jar.)
  4. B. As a construct made of rose petals sitting at the table. (Chapter 19: Sam sees Gran Mae assembled from petals during Sunday dinner.)
  5. B. The floor collapses, burying the first floor in raw earth. (Chapter 23: The dining room sinkhole‑like collapse buries everything in dirt.)
  6. C. Weed killer (herbicide). (Chapter 22: Gail sprays the rose puppet with herbicide, causing it to disintegrate.)
  7. B. She plunges her arm into the roses and commands them to burn. (Chapter 26: Sam uses blood magic to incinerate the children with green roselight.)
  8. B. They say a sinkhole swallowed the house. (Chapter 27: The family adopts a sinkhole cover story.)

Character Motivation

  1. C. She hopes to appease Gran Mae’s ghost and stop the haunting. (Mom repaints to match Gran Mae’s tastes; the house is calmer for a while after painting.)
  2. B. She used them in magical rituals to contain the underground children. (Gail explains the jar of teeth formed part of a protective circle; Gran Mae also took teeth from her husband’s ashes.)
  3. B. Vultures serve as her familiars and psychopomps in her witchcraft. (Gail admits she is a witch; Hermes acts as a guide, and she calls him a friend. His vulture shape has supernatural significance.)
  4. B. Her training as an archaeoentomologist makes her rely on scientific reasoning. (Sam repeatedly tries to rationalize events; she only fully accepts magic late in the story.)
  5. B. She is mimicking Gran Mae’s habits to avoid provoking her ghost. (Mom adopts Gran Mae’s customs, including saying grace, to keep the ghost calm.)

Theme & Symbol

  1. B. Impending death and supernatural surveillance over the house. (Vultures repeatedly appear as omens; Gail’s vultures watch the house, hinting at Gran Mae’s enduring presence.)
  2. B. Gran Mae’s controlling magic, the family legacy, and a protective barrier. (The roses contain the underground children and embody Gran Mae’s will; Sam inherits their power.)
  3. B. The unnatural, stifling influence of Gran Mae’s magic on the environment. (The insect absence is a clue that the garden is magically suppressed, not naturally barren.)
  4. C. Gran Mae’s outdated values, desire for a “normal” perfect family, and erasure of the past. (The painting represents the false nostalgia and racism Gran Mae imposed; Sam crushes it.)

Synthesis

  1. Sam connects to Gran Mae by using the same rose‑based blood magic to defeat the underground children, but she distinguishes herself by burning the roses rather than preserving them, rejecting Gran Mae’s controlling legacy. She uses the power to protect her family, not to manipulate them.
  2. Sam’s scientific mindset makes her a careful observer—she catalogues anomalies like the insect absence and tests hypotheses (e.g., digging the pitfall trap, researching Elgar Mills). Her archaeological training helps her identify the jar of teeth as an intentional burial and later deduce that the roses formed a protective circle.
  3. The underground children are literal family secrets—hybrid horrors created by Elgar Mills and then contained by Gran Mae’s roses. They embody the idea that buried trauma and generational sins cannot stay hidden forever; they will eventually resurface and must be confronted directly.