Stay
by Bobbie Pyron
Informational Resources:
Author Information:
Bobbie Pyron biography:
https://www.bobbiepyron.com/about-me.php
Fun facts about Bobbie Pyron:
https://www.bobbiepyron.com/this-that.php
Activities & Resources:
Activities:
Girl Scout Troop 6000:
Stay is dedicated to the girls of Girl Scout troop 6000. Learn more about this special troop:
https://www.oprahmag.com/life/a27239345/girl-scout-troop-6000-homeless-girls/
See members of Troop 6000 on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (3:06):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSgTnLmEZfU
Dogs:
The author isn’t specific about what breed of dog Baby is, but the picture on the cover and details from the book can give us clues. Check out this list of dog breeds to determine what type of dog Baby might be:
https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/
Read about Merlin’s Kids, an organization that trains dogs in shelters to be emotional support animals:
Baby depended on his sense of smell to understand the world. Learn more about dogs’ sense of smell:
https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/how-dogs-use-smell-to-perceive-the-world
You can train your dog by playing games. Here are some games to play with your dog:
https://www.thesprucepets.com/fun-games-for-dogs-1118374
Snow:
Piper and her family had never seen snow before. Learn more about from where snowflakes come (3:41):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M48RfaWcWA
How to make paper snowflakes: https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-6-Pointed-Paper-Snowflakes/
Brownies:
The Firefly Girls sold several flavors of gourmet brownies. Recipes for different flavors of brownies:
https://tarateaspoon.com/think-outside-box-brownies/
Create your own flavor of brownie and write the recipe.
MakerSpace Activities:
Piper finds Baby at a playground. Use straws, craft sticks, and other materials to build a model of what you think the playground looks like.
Use Google Maps to track Jewel’s journey from North Carolina. Page 185 lists the states she traveled through.
You can make toys to donate to animals in shelters: https://www.animalhumanesociety.org/education/craft-projects-cat-shelters-and-more
Use Canva, Buncee, or another graphic design app to create the badges that the Firefly Girls put on Baby’s vest.
Jewel taught piano lessons. Using MaKey MaKey or Scratch programming (or combine both), create an instrument that plays notes when you press a key, like a piano.
http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/how_to_make_a_piano_in_scratch.pdf
Discussion Questions:
Read the article about Girl Scout troop 6000 in the activities section. What similarities do you notice between this Girl Scout troop and the Firefly Girls? How are they different?
Do you have a pet? How do you feel about your pet? How do you think your pet feels about you?
Why do you think the author chose the title Stay?
Why do you think the author chose to alternate between Piper’s point of view and a third-person narrator?
The author isn’t specific about the setting of the book, but mentions mountains and snow. Where do you think the book takes place? Why?
Why do you think Jewel chose to name her dog “Baby?”
Jewel says, “Dogs are the best medicine.” (page 33) Do you agree? Why?
Piper overhears Mama tell someone they’re going through a rough patch. Piper says, “This patch we’ve been in for the last four months seems like a football field full of briars.” (page 39) What does she mean by that?
Why do you think Jewel and Ree are so attached to their dogs?
Why is being part of a Firefly Girls troop so important to Piper? How do you think joining the troop at the shelter affects Piper?
Why does Mama ask everyone to list three things they are grateful for every night?
What are three things you are grateful for today?
What does Mama mean when she says, “Are you looking at the doughnut or the hole?” (page 96)
On page 103, Piper mentions serendipity: “the unexpected coming together or different things in a lucky way.” Have you ever experienced serendipity?
Do you think the girls could have figured out information about Jewel without using the internet? How would the story be different if it took place 30 years ago?
How would you have voted to use the money raised from selling brownies (page 238-239)? Why would you have voted that way?
How do you think Piper felt when she spoke at the school assembly? Have you ever spoken to a large group of people? How did you feel or how would you feel?
What does Piper mean by, “We feel like home?” (page 266)
On page 269, Baby gives another dog his stuffed bunny to comfort it. Do you think this could really happen? Have you ever seen an animal be kind to another animal?
Why do you think the girls sewed Firefly Girls badges onto Baby’s new vest?
If you wrote a sequel to Stay, what would happen to Jewel and Baby after they left? What would happen to Piper and her family?
Book Talk Teasers:
Read the Reader’s Theater for Stay.
Watch the book trailer on the Texas Bluebonnet Award YouTube channel.
Read Alikes:
Homelessness:
Applegate, Katherine. Crenshaw. A story about a homeless boy and his imaginary friend that proves in unexpected ways that friends matter, whether real or imaginary. (NoveList Plus)
Bauer, Joan. Almost Home. Sixth-grader Sugar and her mother lose their beloved house and experience the harsh world of homelessness. (NoveList Plus)
Steveson, Nanci Turner. Lizzie Flying Solo. A lyrical, poignant middle grade novel about embracing change, accepting help from others, and finding a place to call home. Perfect for fans of Raymie Nightingale. Lizzie St. Claire wants to be invisible. Forced to move out of her home, she and her mom now live in a transitional housing shelter, Good Hope, until they can get back on their feet. Lizzie just wants to keep her head down at Good Hope and her new school, so she doesn't have to admit the real reason she and her mom lost everything. But when Lizzie finds herself at the nearby Birchwood Stables, some new friends--along with the arrival of a frightened pony named Fire--help Lizzie to open up and accept help from those around her, even if it means she'll have more to lose if things change again. (NoveList Plus)
Dogs:
Engle, Margarita. Mountain Dog. Sent to live with a great uncle he has never met in beautiful Sierra Nevada when his mother goes to jail, traumatized young Tony bonds with his Tio and a search-and-rescue dog named Gabe while making new friends in his new school and church who help him to experience unconditional love for the first time. (NoveList Plus)
Lean, Sarah. A Dog Called Homeless. Fifth-grader Cally Louise Fisher stops talking, partly because her father and brother never speak of her mother who died a year earlier, but visions of her mother, friendships with a homeless man and a disabled boy, and a huge dog ensure that she still communicates. (NoveList Plus)
O’Connor, Barbara. Wish. A story about a girl who, with the help of the dog of her dreams, discovers that family doesn't always have to be related--they are simply people who love you for who you are. (NoveList Plus)
Mental Illness:
Baldwin, Cindy, Where the Watermelons Grow. Twelve-year-old Della Kelly of Maryville, North Carolina, tries to come to terms with her mother's mental illness while her father struggles to save the farm from a record-breaking drought. (NoveList Plus)
Keller, Tae. The Science of Breakable Things. Middle schooler Natalie's year-long assignment to answer a question using the scientific process leads to truths about her mother's depression and her own cultural identity. (NoveList Plus)
Lambert, Mary E. Family Game Night and Other Catastrophes. Seventh-grader Annabelle's mother is a hoarder, and their whole house is full of canned goods, broken toys, fabric, and old newspapers--but when a pile of newspapers (organized by weather reports) falls on Annabelle's younger sister Leslie and their mother is more concerned about the newspapers, it sets off a chain of events that brings their fix-it-all grandmother in and Annabelle realizes that if there is any hope for change she can not isolate herself and keep her family's problems secret. (NoveList Plus)
Swartz, Elly D. Finding Perfect. With some help from her siblings and friends, Molly is able to face her OCD and be strong enough to get help for it. (NoveList Plus)