Dare County Library Book Club Information and Resource Center

Odder

Author: Katherine Applegate

Meet Odder, the Queen of Play:

Nobody has her moves.
She doesn’t just swim to the bottom,
she dive-bombs.
She doesn’t just somersault,
she triple-doughnuts.
She doesn’t just ride the waves,
she makes them.

Odder spends her days off the coast of central California, practicing her underwater acrobatics and spinning the quirky stories for which she’s known. She’s a fearless daredevil, curious to a fault. But when Odder comes face-to-face with a hungry great white shark, her life takes a dramatic turn, one that will challenge everything she believes about herself―and about the humans who hope to save her.

Inspired by the true story of a Monterey Bay Aquarium program that pairs orphaned otter pups with surrogate mothers, this poignant and humorous tale told in free verse examines bravery and healing through the eyes of one of nature’s most beloved and charming animals.

1.  “It is a happy talent to know how to play,” reads the quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson in the epigraph.  Why is knowing how to play a talent for sea otters? When do you see that Odder is good at playing?  What does her play consist of? Is knowing how to play a talent for humans? Explain your answer.
2. Explain the importance of names in the novel, including numbers used instead of names.  What do Gracie and Holly tell Odder about how names are used for the sea otters at the aquarium?  Why does Odder’s mother call her Odder? Why do you think the aquarium humans call her Jazz?
3. Describe Odder’s personality in the first part, “the queen of play,” giving examples of her actions and  choices. How does her attitude toward life fluctuate when she’s at the aquarium after the shark bite? What improves her spirits?
4. Who is Kairi? How is she different from Odder? Why does Odder blame herself for putting Kairi in danger? Why does Kairi end up in the aquarium? What will her future be?
5. What steps do the humans take when Odder is a baby to prepare her to return to the ocean? How do they  teach her to find food? Why are they impressed with her? How do they make her feel comfortable  with the ocean itself?
6. How can Kairi and Odder do a better job than humans can of preparing baby sea otters for the ocean? Why is Odder reluctant at first to help #209? What steps does Odder take to get #209 ready for living in the ocean?
7. What are some of the dangers that nature, and specifically the ocean and its animals, pose to sea otters?  Discuss the dangers that sharks present. How does the shark find Odder? How does it harm her?
8. What dangers do otters face from humans, both individual people and society in general? When does  Odder encounter humans other than the aquarium workers? Why do the aquarium workers worry  about sea otters interacting with humans?
9. Who are Gracie and Holly? When does Odder meet them? Why are they in the aquarium? What does Odder learn from them about life in the aquarium?
10. What are some of Odder’s perceptions of the humans at the aquarium, both when she was young and three years later? What do their voices sound like to her? Why do the humans seem to have boxes on their head?
11. What do the illustrations add to the novel in terms of information and emotion? Choose a few pictures and explain how they made a difference to your reading. 
12. Talk about why the book is divided into four parts. Discuss the title and overall topic of each part.  Why do you think the author goes back in time for the second part instead of starting the book when  Odder was a baby? Why is there a six-month gap between the third part and the coda?
13. The sea otter characters speak to each other in dialogue. But the story also explains and demonstrates other ways that sea otters communicate with each other. What are some of those ways? How are they  different from how humans communicate?
14. Reread and discuss the poems “The Fifty” and “why.” What were the Fifty? Why were there only fifty?  What happened to the others? How many are there now? Relate your discussion to the information  about the Fifty in the author’s note.
15. After the surgery for the shark bites, Odder realizes that the humans are thinking about how much they  have “to learn from her.” What does she mean? Why is it important to the humans to learn more?  In the poem, “learning,” what do the humans want to know?
16. The poem “cute” reflects on how popular sea otters are with humans. Why are they so popular?  Is being considered cute helpful to them, harmful, or both? Explain your answer.