40 Fun Facts About Save Me a Seat

In Save Me a Seat, which condition was Joe diagnosed with back in kindergarten?

Auditory Processing Disorder makes it hard for Joe to filter out background noise. His own father suspects the doctors made it up to earn more money.

In Save Me a Seat, Ravi was the top student at his old school in which Indian city?

Bangalore is where Ravi was popular and good at sports as well as first in his class, which makes his rough start in America such a shock.

For Mrs. Beam's personal reflection project in Save Me a Seat, what does Joe place in a glass dish?

A peanut M&M is Joe's way of saying there is more to him than meets the eye, since every color tastes the same inside. Dillon eats it before the guessing game starts.

In Save Me a Seat, which cartoon-inspired nickname does Dillon pin on Joe?

Puddy Tat plays on Joe's surname and the Tweety Bird cartoons. Joe hates it, even though his mother once tried to convince him it was a sign of affection.

In Save Me a Seat, which job does Joe's mother take at his school after being laid off as a nurse?

Lunch monitor duty puts her in the one part of the school day Joe loved, and on day one she blows him a kiss in front of Dillon. By Friday she has decided to give the job up.

In Save Me a Seat, Ravi says his first name, stressed on the last syllable, means what in Sanskrit?

The sun is what Ravi means, and he gets to explain it on Friday, when Mrs. Beam finally pronounces his name correctly.

For the personal reflection project in Save Me a Seat, what does Ravi bring to class in a jar?

Leeches are his grandfather's idea, scooped from a pond near home to stand for everything the family went through on its way to America.

The title Save Me a Seat points to both boys' worry over who will sit with them where?

In the cafeteria is where both boys begin the year alone: Joe's two best friends have moved away and Ravi knows nobody. The story ends with a place being held for Ravi.

In Save Me a Seat, which language does Ravi's family mostly speak at home?

English was the language of Ravi's school in India and of most talk at home, so being steered toward ESL materials only makes him feel worse.

In Save Me a Seat, which food gives the final, Friday section of the story its name?

Pizza is Friday's school meal, and every part of the book is named for a weekday and its menu, starting with Monday's chicken fingers.

In Save Me a Seat, the elementary school where Ravi and Joe start fifth grade is named for whom?

Albert Einstein Elementary sits in Hamilton, where Joe has lived all his life and Ravi has only just arrived.

In Save Me a Seat, Ravi's family settles in the town of Hamilton in which US state?

New Jersey is also where the co-author who gave Ravi his voice settled with her own family after leaving India.

In Save Me a Seat, which diet does Ravi's family keep, making school meals a worry for his mother?

Vegetarian food is all Ravi eats, so when he asks about buying his midday meal his grandmother warns that even the salad dressing is made from animal products.

Which novel about an orphan does Mrs. Beam assign her class in Save Me a Seat?

Bud, Not Buddy hooks both boys, who each read ahead of the class on their own. Ravi even compares being stuck in the resource room to one of its scenes.

Which first-time author, a teacher raised in India, wrote Save Me a Seat with Sarah Weeks?

Gita Varadarajan drafted chapters in Ravi's voice and Weeks answered in Joe's. Working that way, the pair finished the first section of the book within a week.

In Save Me a Seat, where does Dillon hide the jar he sneaks from Ravi's desk on Friday?

Down his pants is where Dillon has hidden stolen things before, which is what Joe is counting on. Dillon runs out of the room screaming, the jar dropping from his pant leg.

Sarah Weeks is proud that Joe and Ravi become friends in Save Me a Seat without ever doing what?

Exchanging a word is the one thing the two boys never do. A note, a smile and one small gift do all the talking.

In Save Me a Seat, what job keeps Joe's father away from home for long stretches?

Truck driver is the work Joe's dad took on to pay the bills. He bonds with his son over ball games but struggles to accept the diagnosis, urging Joe to toughen up.

In Save Me a Seat, Ravi carries his mother's home cooking to school in what kind of container?

A tiffin box holds the food his mother cooks for him, and she later pulls it out on the walk home to prove to his grandmother that he ate it all.

In Save Me a Seat, which homemade Indian sweet does Ravi's mother send to win over his teacher?

Naan khatais are Ravi's favorite cookie, and Mrs. Beam likes them so much that she asks for the recipe. One is printed at the back of the book.

In Save Me a Seat, which dessert does Joe's mom use to coax him back to the table on Tuesday?

Apple crisp, served fresh with vanilla ice cream, gets Joe to eat while insisting he is still angry. A recipe for it is printed at the back of the book.

In Save Me a Seat, what is the name of Joe's dog, who is frightened of thunderstorms?

Mia greets Joe at the door after his awful first day and keeps him quiet company whenever he is upset with his parents.

In Save Me a Seat, Joe has learned that Dillon always does what just before causing trouble?

Winks are Dillon's tell, though Ravi first reads one as an offer of friendship. By Friday it is Ravi who winks at Dillon.

In Save Me a Seat, what does Ravi call the hard-to-please grandmother who shares his new home?

Perimma is his father's mother, quick to fault American life and her daughter-in-law's cooking. Perippa is his grandfather, while Amma and Appa are his parents.

In Save Me a Seat, Ravi's quiet grandfather once worked on which kind of plantation in India?

Tea was plucked by hand on the estate, where he had to protect the workers from dangerous wild animals. Ravi later turns the tale into a gripping story for his class.

In Save Me a Seat, Joe compares the bully Dillon to which lurking predator?

Crocodile is Joe's image for Dillon, with himself and Ravi as the zebras he preys on. Joe starts to break free only when he can picture Dillon as a harmless chipmunk.

In Save Me a Seat, Joe's former fourth-grade teacher Mr. Barnes always wears what in the same order?

Bow ties, always real ones, follow a sequence that Joe counts among his favorites. Mr. Barnes was also the first teacher who liked him.

In Save Me a Seat, what does Ravi call Joe after the two bump heads over spilled school supplies?

Big Foot is Ravi's insult after Joe, who was only trying to help, also steps on his name card. It makes Dillon laugh.

In Save Me a Seat, which social studies term does Ravi define with a meaning from science class?

Assimilate has a biology meaning that Ravi recites from memory, but Mrs. Beam says it does not fit the context. A dictionary later shows him that both meanings exist.

In Save Me a Seat, which babyish book is Ravi handed along with headphones in the resource room?

Fun with Phonics insults a boy who was first in his class in India, so Ravi turns the volume down and eavesdrops on Joe instead.

In Save Me a Seat, what does Ravi's grandfather quietly turn off when his wife is not looking?

His hearing aids go off whenever Ravi's grandmother carries on too long. He says little in the new house until a walk with Ravi on Thursday.

In Save Me a Seat, Ravi's unsigned project card, mismatched by Dillon, is about never doing what?

Quitting is something his family never does, his grandfather tells him, a lesson handed down to Ravi's father before him. Dillon guesses the card belongs to another boy.

In Save Me a Seat, which kind of chart do Ravi and his giggling partner Emily draw on the first day?

A Venn diagram is meant to show what partners share, but Emily keeps asking Ravi to repeat himself, so the only thing they list in common is their class.

Sarah Weeks, co-author of Save Me a Seat, also wrote which novel that became a feature film?

So B. It became a full-length film, and Weeks said she could not be more pleased with how the adaptation turned out.

In Save Me a Seat, what does Dillon steal from Ravi while pretending to help gather his things?

A mechanical pencil disappears while Ravi's supplies lie scattered on the floor, and only Joe sees it go. Ravi keeps believing Dillon is his friend.

In Save Me a Seat, Dillon, Ravi and Joe end up seated in a row in Room 506 based on what?

Their last names all begin with S, which puts Ravi in the middle seat between the boy who will bully him and the boy who will befriend him.

In Save Me a Seat, Ravi's father credits his wife's prophetic powers to a birthmark found where?

On her tongue sits the mark that, his father says, gives her words their power. In the last chapter Ravi decides his mother's black tongue has finally worked.

In Save Me a Seat, which toy can Joe's old teacher Mr. Barnes bounce a hundred times on his knee?

A Hacky Sack, a pink one, is Mr. Barnes's party trick. He is also the adult who checks on Joe after his miserable first day of fifth grade.

In Save Me a Seat, Ravi's father moves the family from India to Hamilton for work in which field?

Information technology is the field, an IT post that prompted the move and cost Ravi the servants who used to cook for him and take him places in India.

In Save Me a Seat, where do both Ravi and Joe spend Thursday instead of at their desks?

At home is where both boys finally open up: Joe admits that Dillon bullies him, and Ravi admits he feels like a failure at his new school.