A Game of Noctis

By Deva Fagan

Informational Resources:

Author Information:

Deva Fagan’s website

https://devafagan.com/

Activities & Resources:

Have students write and record a book talk for A Game of Noctis.
BOOK TALK GUIDELINES

Pia goes on a hero's journey. Discuss the different parts of this journey according to Joseph Campbell’s guide (3:10)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1Zxt28ff-E

How to write a riddle

https://poetry4kids.com/news/writing-riddles/

Games:

The Evolution of Board Games in America (3:40)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QBWw8qNKPo

Play the trust exercise Master and Puppet. Create obstacles in the room. Partner kids up in groups of two. One person is blindfolded and the other has to give directions to get them to the other side of the room without bumping into the obstacles.

Play Sharks and Minnows (1:34)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lXX4Ki5pwU

Learn How to Play Chess

https://www.chesskid.com/learn/articles/how-to-play-chess

Learn How to Play Sudoku (1:13)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zRXDsGydeQ

Card Games for Kids
https://wehavekids.com/parenting/Card-Games-For-Kids

Design Your Own Board Game
https://www.scholastic.com/parents/school-success/learning-toolkit-blog/learning-challenge-kids-design-board-game.html

MakerSpace Activities:

Use Scratch Coding to make your own game
https://scratch.mit.edu/
https://www.scratchjr.org/

Have a minute to win it tournament
https://tinybeans.com/the-best-minute-to-win-it-games-for-kids/

They use Segna in the book. Design your own money and make it a math game
https://picklebums.com/printable-play-money/

Make your own origami game pieces (4:39)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF82aqALSSY

Practice your fencing skills with pool noodles (1:42)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-5fM5-4mqg

Discussion Questions:

Based on the title and cover of the book, what are some predictions you can make about the story?

Can you describe the setting of the story? How does it contribute to the overall mood of the book?

Do you think a society centered around game stats is a fair one? How does your standing work for or against you?

Why might someone choose to tie in a game rather than win? Are there any advantages to this strategy?

Would you easily bet it all, or would you be a cautious gamer and build up your rank slowly?

Is the power the arbiters have fair? How would you change the rules to make it more balanced?

On page 40 Gramps says “some wins aren’t worth the price.” What does this mean to you?

What does Gramps mean when he says “overconfidence can be as dangerous as incompetence?” (pg.71)

What does it mean to be a team player?

How do you feel about the team's dynamics? Do you think they compliment each other or are they doomed to fail?

If you could be a champion of any game in Dantessa, what would it be? Why?

How can you tell right from wrong if no one is telling you what is right and wrong?

The Seafoxes are the first team to ever compete in the finale of the Great Game. What are some challenges of being the first person or team to compete? What are some advantages?

If you were playing the game of noctis on a team, which role would you choose? Prince, stag, peacock, hare, or archer?

If you could create a boon what would it be, and how would you use it?

Pia wants to defeat Death to end all the games. This would change how everyone lives their lives. How would you start a new society? How would you make it fair?

Following the rules both helped and hindered the players. What is an example of a time the rules helped? What is an example of a time it hindered?

If you could change one thing in the book, what would it be? Why?

Why do you think the author wrote this story?

How did the story’s ending make you feel?

Book Talk Teasers:

Read the reader’s theater for A Game of Noctis by Deva Fagan.

Watch the book trailer on the Texas Bluebonnet Award website.

Read Alikes: 

Alston, B.B.. Amari and the Night Brothers. Thirteen-year-old Amari, a poor Black girl from the projects, gets an invitation from her missing brother to join the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs and join in the fight against an evil magician. (NoveList Plus)

Graudin, Ryan. The Girl Who Kept the Castle. When Wizard West hosts a competition to choose a successor worthy of inheriting his legacy, 12-year-old Faye, who has always lived at his magical mansion, discovers a saboteur in their midst and will stop at nothing to save her beloved home from falling into the wrong hands. (NoveList Plus)

Ortega, Claribel A. Witchlings. Every year Witchlings who participate in the Black Moon Ceremony are placed into covens and come into their powers as full-fledged witches. Seven isn't placed in one of the five covens. She's a Spare. Seven invokes her only option. The three Spares will be assigned an impossible task: If they work together and succeed at it, their coven will be sealed and they'll gain their full powers. If they fail...Well, the last coven to make the attempt ended up being turned into toads.. (NoveList Plus)

Ritter, Kacy. The Great Texas Dragon Race. Wings of Fire meets The Hunger Games in this debut contemporary middle grade fantasy stand-alone about thirteen-year-old Cassidy Drake, who enters the dangerous Great Texas Dragon Race to save her family’s dragon sanctuary. (NoveList Plus)

Ursu, Anne. The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy. Sent to the Dragomir Academy, a mysterious school for wayward girls, misfit Marya discovers something about the magic that the men of their country wield which changes everything. (NoveList Plus)

Reviews:

Booklist starred (February 15, 2024 (Vol. 120, No. 12))

Grades 4-7. There are 8,684 officially recognized games in Dantessa, and every citizen’s life is shaped by their overall standing in the Great Game. Lose too many challenges and your personal score drops to zero, removing you from play and sending you into a life of servitude. Pia knows this better than most, as she watches her dear grandfather gets shipped off to Pawn Island after he suffers a final defeat trying to win coins for their supper. Desperate to earn a large enough fortune to purchase Gramps’ reinstatement, Pia joins a ragtag band of misfits with varying agendas in order to compete in the ultimate game, one that pits teams against Lady Death herself. As rule-following Pia and her teammates uncover the reality of the high-stakes gaming world, it becomes increasingly obvious that inequality abounds, and they become determined to change the established system, even if it requires the ultimate sacrifice. The transporting novel instantly enthralls, casting readers headlong into a world of impressively well-developed games and mythology. Pia shines as a phenomenal protagonist willing to examine long-held convictions as truths come to light, and the diverse supporting cast, including a delightfully disarming Lady Death, is equally enjoyable. A captivating consideration of what it means to be “good” in an unjust world.