The Mysterious Matter of I.M. Fine

The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine
Diane Stanley
HarperCollins 2001
ISBN: 0380733277 (Paper)

Booktalk:

How powerful do you think a book can be?
Can it cause you to behave peculiarly?
Can it destroy civilization?

Franny is the new girl in school when she and her new friend, Beamer, observe a strange obsession among the students in the cafeteria. (Read from the book: pp 12-13). After school, Franny finds that her own little sister is begging and pleading for Mom to buy her Jelly Worms… immediately (Read aloud pp 14 to 16: from “She was all fired up” to “it’s going to be the new cool thing.”) Franny sees a connection between this new fad and the latest book in the best selling horror series, CHILLERS by I. M. Fine, titled The Worm Turns. After the next book in the series, Mind Wave, induces mass headaches among its readers, and The Sinister Serpent Surprise causes an epidemic of snake-like behavior, Franny and Beamer are convinced that these strange effects are no coincidence. The two are determined to track down I. M. Fine before she publishes an even more dangerous book. What they discover is that the author is deliberately using her books to avenge an old injustice with a horrifying goal in mind for her final CHILLER, The Avenging Word.

Questions for discussion:

• Have you ever been the new kid in school? What was it like?
• Were some parts of the book scary? Which parts?
• Were some parts of the book funny? Which parts?
• Can you name any recent fads? Fads that make people all act in a peculiar way?
• Can a book be dangerous? Describe how.
• Is there such a thing as “mass hysteria?” Can you name examples?
• Can you tell that this book is a satire making fun of a popular horror series? Can you name the series?
• Were Franny and Beamer right to steal from Ida? To watch the tape and make a copy of it?

Activities:

Make “Dirt Cup” snacks with gummy worms
Dirt Cup recipe for 8 servings
2 c Milk
1 pk Jello pudding & pie filling
8 oz Cool whip
16 oz Chocolate sandwich cookies
8 ea 7oz. plastic cups
Pour milk into large bowl. Add pudding mix. Beat with whisk for 1 to 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in cool whip topping and half the cookies (crushed). Place 1 tbsp. crushed cookies in each cup. Fill cups 3/4 full with pudding mix. Top with remaining crushed cookies. Decorate with gummy worms. Eat and enjoy.

Visit R. L. Stine’s webpage: www.scholastic.com/goosebumps/books/stine/ Using Stine’s tips for writing your own “Goosebumps,” write your own horror story and read it to the group.

Explore the power of suggestion with the popular party game of Levitation which can be found at: yhc.sahealth.com/just4fun/braintwisters/levitation.asp

Submitted by: Kate McClelland - Perrot Library - Old Greenwich

Last updated on: 18 September, 2008

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