Book excerpt: Grammardog Teacher's Guide contains 16 quizzes for this novel. All sentences are from the novel. Figurative language describes a harsh winter in Massachusetts ("the storms of February had pitched their white tents about the devoted village," "Far off above us a square of light trembled through the screen of snow"). Allusions to constellations express the theme of hopes and dreams of life beyond the remote village (Orion, Pleiades, the Dipper, Sirius).