A Tangle of Knots

Whimsical, Imaginative, Surprising, Quirky, Charming  

A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff 

Published by Philomel an imprint of Penguin Books, Copyright 2013

Living in a world where everyone has a Talent, eleven-year-old orphan, Cady, meets several fascinating people after she moves into a room upstairs in the Lost Luggage Emporium. A series of seemingly unrelated events slowly come together like pieces of a puzzle. In an almost magical twist of fate, Cady discovers much about herself and the people around her. 

Grade level: 5-6

Lexile Measure: 840L

Description: Fantasy

Suggested delivery: Read aloud 

Electronic Resources:

Interview with the Author

This interview with the author, Lisa Graff, focuses on her book “A Tangle of Knots.” Students can read this interview to learn a little bit about the author and how the story came about. She talks about her inspirations to write the story and why she included several cake recipes throughout the book.  

Book Trailer

Students can watch this book trailer before reading begins to spark interest in the book and to get an idea of what the book will be about. By understanding the gist of the story, students will be able to focus their attention on making connections between the characters and events. 

Teaching Strategies

Key vocabulary:

·         Wield – to have and use

·         Guffaw – to laugh loudly

·         Conundrum – a confusing or difficult problem

·         Lore – traditional knowledge, beliefs, and stories that relate to a particular subject

·         Admonished – to speak in way that expresses disapproval or criticism

·         Dissipate – to cause something to spread out and disappear 

Before reading: Ask students to discuss what different talents they have. This will help them create meaningful connections to the text since almost every character in the story has a Talent, or is looking for one.

During reading: Facilitate a directed reading-thinking activity throughout the book. Read the chapter titles, recipes, and short passages from the book and ask students to make predictions. As the story progresses have students rethink their predictions and make changes if necessary. At the end of each reading session have students reflect on their predictions. Ask them what in the text made them change their predictions or what in the text proved them to be true. 

After reading: Have students create a character map, similar to a family tree, to show how each character in the story are related to each other.

Writing activity: What if Cady wasn’t adopted by Toby? What if she never found that perfect peanut butter recipe? What if Marigold didn’t accidently get her brother shipped off to New Jersey? Have students write a creative alternate ending to the book if fate hadn’t worked out the way it did in the story.