White Smoke Response

Part 1:

Collage:

Using an online pic collage creation tool or app, create a picture collage of a minimum of 3
photos you believe demonstrates an understanding of the mood of your mystery novel. These
must be photos you take yourself.

Mood = the feeling a reader gets from a piece of literature; influenced by the author’s word
choice, but must be inferred by the reader.
Part 2:

In one-two paragraph per photo, explain how each of the photos represents the mood, including
examples and page numbers (or chapter title in the audiobook) for supporting evidence.
Remember: Avoid ending a paragraph with a quote - always follow with your own
words/interpretation.

Flame:

I chose a picture of the flame because of the importance of the fires that occurred in the
background context and the end of book’s setting Cedarville (pg. 187-190, 346-373) Single
flames are a symbol of a spark of a chain reaction and as a symbol that the main character could
be delicate and easy to extinguish if she doesn’t make the right move (pg. 334). The first part of
the symbolism is a more literal interpretation of Cedarville, the extinguishing of the Cedarville
community into mass incarceration, the extinguishing of the community to make way for a new
real estate development, and extinguishing the futures of Cedarville’s citizens who live in the
Wood (pg. 371-372). The second part of the symbolism I listed was when our main character
Mari is looking for Piper and a single candle flickers as she stops short and she realizes she is in
very dangerous, unfamiliar territory where she could get very hurt, if not killed (pg. 335-336).
The quote comes from Mr. Sterling, the man behind the Sterling Foundation, who is looking to
wipe out the Wood, a gentrified neighborhood in Cedarville, by recreating ‘Devil’s Night’ and
lighting the neighborhood ablaze (pg. 346). By setting the neighborhood ablaze, he doesn’t have
to psend any money to relocate the citizens of Cedarville, to demolish the houses, and can save
money by just building from the ground up (pg. 351-352). The flame helps the villain gain all he
wants and receives none of the blame.

House:

I took a picture of a house to represent the falling apart houses of Maple Street. Maple
Street is the abandoned street in Cedarville that nobody in town goes near, until turn into ashes.
Maple Street is haunted in the community’s eyes as the previous resident’s family perished in the
fires and lost everything, all for it to be a lie (pg. 187-190, 244-247). Yusef explains it to Mari on
page 247: “it’s said that Ms. Suga has haunted all the homes on Maple Street ever since. That
she was so angry about losing her family that she turned into the Hag…No one even walks down
that street, there’s been so many bodies found over the years. Folks are shook.” The abandoned
houses are where kids jump and mess around in, including Mari, who builds her own marijuana
garden to create her own anxiety relief (pg. 98, 112, 206-207). Maple Street is haunted by both
the Hag and the memories of those who burned their town in the name of what they thought was
justice (pg. 346-247).

Cup on Counter:

I took a picture of the cup on the counter as it was one of the first signs of the “haunting”
of 215 Maple Street (pg. 26). Her mother notices that one of her nice glasses has been left out
and she kindly reminds everyone that no dishes are to be lieft in the sink (pg. 26-27). It happens
again after the first time when they find a glass cup on the counter (pg. 45). It has already been
distinctly talked about that nobody is to leave dishes out, especially nice wedding gifts or to
leave them in the sink so it is very suspicious when our characters find them out: “Remember, no
dishes in the sink. Everyone is responsible for themselves.” (pg. 26-27). It is the first of many
signs to come of the “haunting” of the Hag (pg. 26, 45-46). From there it escalates to harassment,
impersonation of family members, and attacking said family members.

Part 3:

Demonstrate the mystery genre’s ability to model inquiry practices by taking one or two main
characters’ perspectives and outlining examples of how the main character(s) investigate(s)
the mystery using each step of the scientific method: recognize the problem, research the
problem, form a hypothesis, test the hypothesis, analyze the results, and compare conclusions
with the hypothesis. (This portion may be completed in outline format, including paraphrases or
quotes for support cited with page numbers/chapter titles.)

• Main character(s): Marigold (pg. 8, 20)

• Recognize the problem: What problem is the character trying to solve?
o The character is trying to solve
• Research the problem: What does the character do to try to gain more information
about the problem?
1. Consider traditional forms of research (e.g., looking up information online
or at a library).
1. Marigold looks up information online about how to “follow the
money” on the Sterling Foundation (pg. 192-194, 310-311).
Marigold also looks up on the Internet 6 Tall Tale Signs Your
Home is Haunted (pg. 255-256). Marigold also looks up how to
grow marijuana in an abandoned home (pg. 90, 94-95).
2. Consider non-traditional forms of research (e.g., talking to experts on the
subject).
1. Marigold joins a community garden club that meets at their local
library (pg. 79-88, 208). She also utilizes a cute boy who knows
how to till the land and turn up fertilized plants (pg. 88).
• Form a hypothesis: What is the character’s first guess about an explanation for the
problem?
o Marigold’s first guess about an explanation about the haunting is to rationalize it,
such as when she ‘misplaces’ her phone. She uses positive self-talk with herself
on page 58: “It wasn’t here. I know it wasn’t here because I looked.. Someone
must have put it here. Sammy. It had to be.” When the house makes weird
noises and doors open on the own, she rationalizes it as an old house:
“CREEEEEEEEAK…. This place is old, full of old-house noises” (pg. 46).
• Test the hypothesis: How does the character try to determine if their hypothesis is
correct?
o Marigold and her brother determine to figure out how to convince their parents
the Hag is haunting them by planting cameras around the house (pg. 281-283,
290-291). However, before that she thinks that her little stepsister is possessed
by the Hag (pg. 273).
• Analyze the results: What does the character learn from testing their hypothesis?
o The character learns that Piper knows where the cameras are at and how she is
playing Sammy and Marigold (pg. 292-293). Later, they find the cameras are
smashed after being discovered (pg. 319). Later on, when the third camera
figures out the truth, they learn that the Hag is not a ghost but is actually alive
with her son underneath the house (pg. 332-344, 355-363).
• Compare conclusions with the hypothesis
1. What was the actual solution to the problem?
1. The actual solution to the problem was to call Mr. Watson or the police to
investigate the basement as well as let the town know how the Sterling
Foundation put all their checkers in place in order to develop new land for
real estate (pg. 348, 371-372).
2. In what way(s) was the actual solution similar to / different from the character’s
hypothesis?
 1. The character thought the solution to the “haunting” was to cleanse the
space of dark spirits with sage (pg. 109-110).

Additional Resources - Note that you are NOT required to cite the following in your response,
but they may provide you with a deeper understanding of your novel and/or help you craft your
response.

For more info about using the inquiry method to analyze young adult mysteries, check
out this article:

Hood, Y., & Zygouris-Coe, V. (2016). Fostering authentic inquiry and investigation (Links to
an external site.) through middle-grade mystery and suspense novels. (Links to an external
site.) Voices from the Middle,

23(3), 33-37.

[Requires UNO Criss Library login; click PDF full text to the left]

For more info about the elements of a mystery, see the following:

Penguin’s Five Essential Elements of a Mystery (Links to an external site.)

Scholastic’s Genre Characteristics Chart (Links to an external site.)

Sources:

Jackson, T. D. (2021). White smoke: A novel (1st ed.). Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint
of HarperCollinsPublishers.