The School Story
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40 free The School Story trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Andrew Clements's The School Story is a favorite in upper-elementary and middle-school classrooms: a twelve-year-old writes a novel, and her best friend decides the world has to read it. Getting it past the grown-ups takes a secret identity, a rented address, a nervous adviser and a lot of nerve. This quiz follows the book from Natalie's first chapters to the day the secret comes out. It covers the characters, the turns of the plot and the publishing terms the story teaches along the way, plus a few questions on the author and the artist behind the pictures. It works as a check after finishing the book, a warm-up for a reading-group discussion or a classroom review. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you learn something even when you miss one.
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Q 01In The School Story, what is the title of the novel Natalie secretly submits to her mother's company?
The Cheater
The Cheater follows a girl who is caught cheating at school and whose dad stands up for her anyway. Natalie is twelve when she writes it.
Q 02In The School Story, which pen name does Natalie use so her mother won't recognize the author?
Cassandra Day
Cassandra Day is the name on the manuscript, so Hannah ends up editing her own daughter's book without knowing it.
Q 03In The School Story, what job does Zoe invent for herself to get Natalie's manuscript read quickly?
A literary agent
A literary agent can put a manuscript straight onto an editor's desk. So twelve-year-old Zoe plays one herself, with a made-up firm behind her.
Q 04In The School Story, Zoe defends pen names by citing Ted Geisel, better known as which author?
Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss was the pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel, who first adopted it as a student at Dartmouth College.
Q 05In The School Story, whom do Natalie and Zoe recruit as the grown-up adviser for their scheme?
Their English teacher
Their English teacher, Ms. Clayton, is only in her second year on the job and nearly backs out more than once.
Q 06In The School Story, at which event staged by Zoe does Natalie's mother learn who wrote the novel?
A publication party
A publication party at the publishing house is where the secret comes out. Natalie walks in thinking she is only giving Ms. Clayton a tour.
Q 07In The School Story, what do editors call the heap of unrequested manuscripts that Natalie dreads?
The slush pile
The slush pile is where unsolicited manuscripts wait, sometimes for months, and Hannah admits it almost never holds anything worth publishing.
Q 08In The School Story, what does Zoe's dad do for a living?
Lawyer
A lawyer was just what the scheme needed: Zoe's dad goes through the fine print with the girls and signs the paperwork on Zoe's behalf.
Q 09In The School Story, why does Natalie hide her name from her mother, her chosen editor?
To be judged on merit
To be judged on merit, Natalie wants the novel accepted for what it is, not because an editor's daughter happened to write it.
Q 10In The School Story, which made-up woman's name does Zoe give the fake company on her printed stationery?
Sherry Clutch
Sherry Clutch exists only on paper: Zoe has the letterhead and logo printed before Natalie has even agreed to the plan.
Q 11In The School Story, which nickname does Zoe use to hide her identity from Natalie's mother?
Zee Zee
Zee Zee is Zoe's own nickname, and she also pronounces her last name differently so Hannah will not link the caller to her daughter's best friend.
Q 12In The School Story, which fictional publisher employs Natalie's mother and buys her daughter's novel?
Shipley Junior Books
Shipley Junior Books is the children's publisher where Hannah works under a sharp-tongued boss nicknamed Lethal.
Q 13In The School Story, which post does Hannah's fearsome boss, Letha Springfield, hold at the company?
Editor in chief
Q 21In The School Story, what becomes of Letha Springfield after the success of Natalie's novel?
She takes a job elsewhere
She takes a job elsewhere once the book is a hit, and Hannah is promoted into the seat she leaves behind.
Q 22In The School Story, how does Natalie explain the manuscript package she herself carries in to her mother?
A messenger delivered it
A messenger delivered it, Natalie claims, and then she has to hide her excitement while she waits for her mother to read it.
Q 23In which city is the publishing house where Natalie's mother works in Andrew Clements's The School Story?
New York
Editor in chief Letha Springfield outranks Hannah, and she uses that rank to grab the promising new manuscript for herself.
Q 14In The School Story, who loves Natalie's manuscript and overrules Letha Springfield about its editor?
The company president
The company president, Tom Morton, gets his own copy straight from Zoe, with a letter saying the author will work only with Hannah.
Q 15In The School Story, what do Natalie, Zoe and Ms. Clayton call the three-person group they form?
The Publishing Club
The Publishing Club has only three members, and its first project is a real one: getting a twelve-year-old's novel into bookstores.
Q 16In The School Story, which relative signs Natalie's contract so that her mother stays in the dark?
Her uncle
Her uncle Fred, who is close to the family, agrees over the phone to sign in place of the parent the girls cannot ask.
Q 17In The School Story, writing her novel at an old family computer helps Natalie feel closer to which person?
Her father
Her father died in a car accident, and Natalie writes on his old Macintosh, sitting in his red desk chair.
Q 18In The School Story, whom does Zoe secretly invite to witness the moment Natalie's secret comes out?
A local news crew
A local news crew films the girls' confession, and the coverage that follows helps turn the book into a hit.
Q 19In The School Story, what does Letha Springfield demand from Zoe before she will publish Natalie's novel?
An apology
An apology is the price Letha sets after an argument over who will edit the book. Zoe finds another way around her.
Q 20In The School Story, what does Ms. Clayton secretly do with Zoe's expense money?
Saves it in her bank
She saves it in her bank account and pays the bills herself, feeling guilty about spending a twelve-year-old's $500.
New York is where Hannah edits children's books, and Andrew Clements knew the scene: he was an editor there himself in the early 1980s.
Q 24In The School Story, what do the girls rent so that Zoe's made-up company seems to have a real address?
An instant office
An instant office becomes the fake firm's headquarters, and Zoe adds a phone number and an answering service to complete the illusion.
Q 25In The School Story, how does Zoe's dad react when the girls confess their whole secret scheme to him?
He is impressed
He is impressed, above all with Ms. Clayton: he phones to commend her and insists that she send him the bill.
Q 26In The School Story, how does Letha Springfield react to the unfamiliar name of Zoe's made-up company?
She pretends to know it
She pretends to know it and assigns Hannah to read the package, which is exactly what the girls were hoping for.
Q 27Which illustrator, a later Caldecott Medal winner, drew the pictures for Andrew Clements's The School Story?
Brian Selznick
Brian Selznick's portraits give each character a face, and he illustrated other Clements novels too, among them The Report Card and Lunch Money.
Q 28Which Caldecott-winning book about an orphan and an automaton did the illustrator of The School Story later write?
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
The Invention of Hugo Cabret won the 2008 Caldecott Medal, the first long book to do so, at 533 pages with 284 pictures.
Q 29Which real publishing house, whose Atheneum imprint issued the paperback, first published The School Story?
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster published the book in June 2001, having already brought out The Landry News and The Janitor's Boy.
Q 30In which US state did schoolchildren vote Andrew Clements's The School Story their Young Reader Medal winner?
California
California's Young Reader Medal is decided by the votes of the state's own schoolchildren, and the novel took the prize in 2004.