Choldenko, Gennifer. The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman. Knopf, 06/2024. 309p. $ 17.99. 978-1-5247-1893-0.
The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman is the latest tween novel by Bay Area author Gennifer Choldenko, recipient of a Newbery Honor for Al Capone Does My Shirts (Home – Gennifer Choldenko). Her new book is a realistic contemporary story of 11-year-old Hank and his little sister Boo, who become entangled in the foster care system after their mother does not return home. Although this covers some dire circumstances, the story contains humor and a great first-person character of Hank, who many readers will relate to. He is one of those kids who end up overwhelmed by adult responsibilities and circumstances beyond his control. It makes for a great book discussion group for middle schoolers.
Discussion Questions
- Hank was in a tough situation when threatened with eviction. Did he make the right choice to leave?
- Who could Hank call in a situation like that? Or what adult at school could he talk to?
- What kind of parent was Hank’s mom? Good points, and bad points?
- Has anyone here been a new kid at school, like Hank? What did he do to make friends so quickly? Any advice on how to do that?
- Lou Ann, his grandmother’s friend who took in Hank and Boo, was pretty hard on Hank. Do you think she treated him fairly? Why or why not?
- Can you name some of the ten mistakes Hank thought he made? Can you think of alternatives he could have chosen to avoid a mistake?
Related Activities
- Have students make a list of emergency phone numbers and places to go if they are ever stranded. Use this template: Prepare with Pedro: Resilience and Coping Skills Activity Book (redcross.org).
- If you have an outdoor recreation area, have a free throw shooting contest to celebrate Hank’s love of basketball.
- If not, play indoor basketball using a small ball and net: Amazon.com : Hommtina Basketball Hoop Indoor with Electronic Scoreboard Mini Basketball Hoop with 3 Balls, Indoor Basketball for Door & Wall Office Bedroom Score Basketball Hoop for Kids and Ad (Red-black+counter) : Sports & Outdoors.
- Hold a canned food and disposable diaper drive and donate to a local food bank.
- Hank loves to draw cartoons, even using a computer program to animate his drawings. Offer colored pencils and paper to encourage drawing, or coloring pages for those who don’t like to draw: Imaginary Creatures | Free Coloring Pages | crayola.com.
- For a snack, enjoy Hank’s favorite oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies.
Penny Peck, San Jose State University iSchool
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