The Fourteenth Goldfish
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
7correct to beat the crowd
40 free The Fourteenth Goldfish trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Jennifer L. Holm's novel The Fourteenth Goldfish starts with a wonderfully odd idea: a grumpy grandfather who has found a way to turn back the clock and now has to sit through middle school beside his granddaughter. Behind the comedy sits a serious question about how far discovery should go, which is why the book turns up on so many classroom reading lists. This quiz follows eleven-year-old Ellie through the whole story: the fish that gave the book its title, the rare jellyfish in Melvin's lab, the friends she loses and finds, the family dinners, and the choice Melvin faces at the end. A handful of questions look at the real researchers the book celebrates, the stage drama woven through it, the sequel and the author's other work. It is written for students who have just finished the novel, for teachers and librarians who want a ready-made comprehension check, and for book clubs and families reading along. Every answer comes with a short explanation.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In The Fourteenth Goldfish, how did Ellie's pet goldfish seem to survive for seven years?
It was secretly replaced
It was secretly replaced: Ellie's mother swapped in a new fish each time one died, and the one Ellie finally found dead in its bowl was the thirteenth.
Q 02Which sport does Ellie's best friend take up in The Fourteenth Goldfish, leaving Ellie alone at lunch?
Volleyball
Volleyball becomes her passion and brings her new teammates to sit with, while Ellie flounders with no great enthusiasm of her own.
Q 03Which cover story finally gets Ellie's team inside the lab in The Fourteenth Goldfish?
Pizza delivery
Pizza delivery is Ellie's idea: they buy some pizzas and head for the lab, which is about to be sold, leaving little time to rescue the cooler inside.
Q 04How does Melvin finally get rid of his age-reversing jellyfish at the end of The Fourteenth Goldfish?
Flushes it down the toilet
Flushes it down the toilet: Melvin decides Ellie is right that he has been off course about many things, then leaves to do some traveling.
Q 05In The Fourteenth Goldfish, whom does Ellie's grandfather honor in the scientific name of his jellyfish?
Himself
Himself: he calls the species T. melvinus, after his own first name, and schemes to get it out of the lab so he can carry on his work.
Q 06Which medical researcher discussed by Ellie and Melvin in The Fourteenth Goldfish developed an early polio vaccine?
Jonas Salk
Jonas Salk developed one of the first successful polio vaccines, then chose not to patent it so that it could be distributed as widely as possible.
Q 07Which cuisine does Melvin insist on in The Fourteenth Goldfish whenever the family orders takeout?
Chinese
Chinese is the only takeout Melvin ever wants, and although his daughter tries to talk him into something different, she gives in.
Q 08Which award does Melvin dream of winning for his anti-aging discovery in The Fourteenth Goldfish?
The Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prize is Melvin's goal, and he even frets over what to wear to the ceremony while insisting on primary authorship of the find.
Q 09How does Raj, the new friend Ellie makes at middle school in The Fourteenth Goldfish, dress?
Goth
Goth is Raj's style, and he proves an unlikely ally: thanks to him and Ellie, Melvin always has someone to eat lunch with.
Q 10Which classic American play does Ellie's mother direct with her students in The Fourteenth Goldfish?
Our Town
Our Town is the play, and on opening night a scene about people failing to appreciate their lives leaves Melvin engrossed.
Q 11After her goldfish dies in The Fourteenth Goldfish, which pet does Ellie ask her mother for instead?
A dog
A dog is what Ellie asks for, but the backyard of her house is too cramped to give one any space to run around.
Q 12For which offense do police pick up the youthful Melvin at his own lab in The Fourteenth Goldfish?
Trespassing
Trespassing was the charge: nobody at the lab recognized the researcher in his new body, so Ellie's mother had to collect him from the police station.
Q 13Where do Ellie and Raj finally find the missing Melvin after school in The Fourteenth Goldfish?
In detention
In detention: Melvin, who grumbles about the curriculum and walks out of class at will, has ended up there, and Raj keeps Ellie company while she waits.
Q 21Which researcher spotlighted in The Fourteenth Goldfish discovered radium and died from radiation exposure?
Marie Curie
Marie Curie also discovered polonium with her husband Pierre, and the couple named that element in honour of her native Poland.
Q 22Which hobby of Ellie's in The Fourteenth Goldfish hints at the methodical mind she brings to science?
Puzzles
Puzzles are Ellie's thing, and her grandfather soon takes her under his wing, inspiring her with stories about the great researchers.
Q 23Which exhibit at the de Young Museum makes Ellie doubt eternal youth in The Fourteenth Goldfish?
A mummy
A mummy, an ancient attempt at eternal life, leaves Ellie uneasy, and she tells Melvin his serum would also keep people from a normal lifespan.
Q 14Which school year is Ellie starting in The Fourteenth Goldfish as she misses her old best friend?
Sixth grade
Sixth grade is Ellie's first year of middle school, and the eleven-year-old, who has never liked change, badly misses the year before.
Q 15What does Ellie lend Melvin in The Fourteenth Goldfish to tame his long, frizzy hair?
Ponytail holders
Ponytail holders do the job, and Ellie also lends her grandfather acne cream for the spots that come with being young again.
Q 16Robert Oppenheimer, debated by Ellie and Melvin in The Fourteenth Goldfish, oversaw the building of which weapon?
The atomic bomb
The atomic bomb was developed at the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, which Oppenheimer directed, and he was present at its first test, Trinity.
Q 17How does Melvin set off to see the country at the end of The Fourteenth Goldfish?
By bus
By bus is how Melvin goes, because touring the country that way was an unfulfilled dream of his late wife, Ellie's grandmother.
Q 18What relation does Ellie's mother tell the police the youthful Melvin is in The Fourteenth Goldfish?
A cousin
A cousin, and a long-lost one at that, is her story, which leaves her in charge of him and free to send him off to middle school with Ellie.
Q 19What does the company make that employs Ben, the boyfriend of Ellie's mother, in The Fourteenth Goldfish?
Video games
Video games are Ben's business, which is why Melvin looks down on him even though Ben holds a PhD of his own.
Q 20Turritopsis dohrnii, a real animal that can age backward as in The Fourteenth Goldfish, has which nickname?
The immortal jellyfish
The immortal jellyfish earns its name because, when stressed, sick or old, it can revert to its juvenile polyp stage and begin its life over again.
Q 24Which birthday present does Melvin give Ellie in The Fourteenth Goldfish, to her delight?
A microscope
A microscope, and a fancy one, thrills Ellie, even though Melvin grumbles that kids these days make too big a deal about birthdays.
Q 25What is the job of Ellie's father in The Fourteenth Goldfish, which keeps him away on tour?
An actor
An actor on tour, he comes back for a visit and cooks a dinner that everyone eats outside, while Melvin, who never liked his son-in-law, sulks.
Q 26In The Fourteenth Goldfish, what was Ellie's teacher hoping to teach by giving each child a goldfish?
The cycle of life
The cycle of life was the lesson, meant to arrive quickly because goldfish do not have long life spans, although Ellie's fish did not cooperate.
Q 27Near which California city, home to the de Young Museum, does Ellie live in The Fourteenth Goldfish?
San Francisco
San Francisco is the nearby city, and Ellie shares a small house there with her mom, who teaches drama at a high school.
Q 28Which costume does Ellie wear to the Halloween dance in The Fourteenth Goldfish?
A mad scientist
A mad scientist is Ellie's pick, while Raj turns up as a preppy, and losing herself in the pounding rhythms gives her a new sense of energy.
Q 29Which Eisner Award-winning graphic novel series did the author of The Fourteenth Goldfish create with her brother?
Babymouse
Babymouse is written by Jennifer L. Holm and drawn by her brother Matthew, and its amoeba spinoff, Squish, was adapted into an animated series.
Q 30Which everyday activity does Melvin use to show Ellie chemistry at work in The Fourteenth Goldfish?
Cooking
Cooking relies on chemistry, Melvin shows her, alongside tales of famous researchers who never gave up until they made great discoveries.