Magonia Novel Study

This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and is to be used with Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley.

About the Novel: Since she was a baby, Aza Ray Boyle has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live. So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn’t think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.

Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found by another. Magonia.

Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—but as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war between Magonia and Earth is coming. In Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?

About the Resource: The pack has been designed in alignment with the 2014 National Curriculum of England’s Reading Standards for Year 6. Chapter summaries are provided, along with comprehension questions, and opportunities to analyse the setting, characters, point of view, and theme. Creative writing prompts and non-fiction research opportunities related to the text are also provided.

A link to an editable digital copy of the file on Google Slides for completing without printing is available with download.