66 pages • 2 hours read
Mary Downing HahnWait Till Helen Comes
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1986A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Quiz
Reading Check, Multiple Choice & Short Answer Quizzes
Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.
Chapters 1-4
Reading Check
1. Where do Michael and Molly’s family move?
2. Who is Heather?
3. What discovery about their new property makes Molly upset?
4. How does Heather feel about Michael, Molly, and Mom?
Multiple Choice
1. What happened to Heather’s mother?
A) She moved away.
B) She died in a fire.
C) She passed away from cancer.
D) She married someone new.
2. What hobbies does Molly enjoy?
A) playing sports like softball
B) collecting butterflies
C) reading and writing
D) playing video games
3. Which of the following adjectives best describe Michael?
A) grouchy and short-tempered
B) imaginative and creative
C) superstitious and fearful
D) practical and scientific
4. Why don’t Michael and Molly like Heather?
A) Heather lies about them and gets them in trouble.
B) Heather steals their belongings.
C) Mom loves Heather more than Michael and Molly.
D) Heather is messy and loud.
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How do Michael and Molly’s attitudes regarding the graveyard differ?
2. Why does Molly feel lonely and unappreciated?
3. What is odd about the initials on the gravestone that Heather finds?
4. What do Molly and Michael think Heather is trying to do to the family?
Chapters 5-8
Reading Check
1. What does Heather have a nightmare about?
2. What does Heather promise Helen she will do if Helen will be her friend?
3. What gift does Heather claim that Helen gave her?
4. What does Molly discover when she is sad and goes looking for Michael to talk to?
Multiple Choice
1. What happens when Molly tells Mom and Michael about her fears that the graveyard is haunted?
A) They believe her and are excited to see the ghost.
B) They call in a priest to bless the graveyard.
C) They do not believe her and dismiss her fears.
D) They suggest she get counseling.
2. According to Heather, whose initials appear on the locket??
A) Helen Elizabeth Harper
B) Heather Elizabeth Harper
C) Helen Eliza Hill
D) Heather Eve Harper
3. Who lived in the old Harper House?
A) Helen, her father, and stepmother
B) Helen and her grandparents
C) Helen, her mother, and her stepfather
D) Helen and her foster parents
4. How did Helen die?
A) in a fire
B) by drowning
C) after a long illness
D) by being trampled by a horse
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Dave react to Heather’s nightmare and Molly’s assertion that the graveyard is haunted?
2. Does Michael believe in Helen? What are his thoughts about Molly’s supernatural fears?
3. Why do you think Heather wants so badly to be friends with Helen?
4. Why does Molly worry about Heather’s connection to Helen?
5. What do the local townsfolk believe about the Harper House and pond?
Chapters 9-12
Reading Check
1. Why is Mom upset when Michael and Molly return from the library?
2. What does Molly see when she follows Heather to the graveyard at night?
3. What do Michael and Molly discover when they go into the house after hearing crashing noises from inside?
4. Who does Officer Greene think broke into their house?
Multiple Choice
1. How does Helen react to the fight between Mom and Dave?
A) She wishes they would stop fighting.
B) She is happy to hear them fight.
C) She hopes their fight will make their relationship stronger.
D) She thinks they are both foolish for fighting.
2. What literary device does Hahn use when Molly compares the morning mist to the fog in a Dracula movie?
A) foreshadowing
B) allusion
C) idiom
D) allegory
3. How does Michael respond when Dave accuses Molly and him of tormenting Heather?
A) He apologizes to Dave and Heather.
B) He begins to cry with remorse.
C) He laughs and says Dave is ridiculous.
D) He angrily tells Dave to acknowledge that Heather is a liar.
4. Which person takes Molly’s fears and suspicions seriously?
A) Michael
B) Dave
C) Mr. Simmons
D) The town librarian
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why do Mom and Dave argue?
2. What are Mom’s feelings towards Heather?
3. How does Michael cope with scary concepts like death or nuclear war?
4. How does Molly feel about death and dying?
5. Why does Molly privately decide to watch over and protect Heather?
Chapters 13-15
Reading Check
1. What does Helen offer Heather?
2. What is the secret that Heather has been keeping?
3. What does Heather witness in the Harper House that helps her to think that Dave would forgive her?
4. What special item does Helen return to Heather?
Multiple Choice
1. In what way does Helen say that Heather’s father betrayed her?
A) by not saving Heather’s mother from the fire
B) by refusing to let Heather live with her grandmother
C) by loving someone else more than Heather
D) by giving Michael and Molly more emotional support than Heather
2. What does Molly discover in the cellar of the Harper House?
A) the skeletons of Helen’s mother and stepfather
B) Helen’s corpse
C) the bones of all the little girls Helen lured to their deaths
D) Helen’s old diary
3. Consider the order in which these events occurred. Which event happens second?
A) The girls fall through the broken floor.
B) Molly pulls Heather from the water.
C) The girls see the ghost of Helen’s mother.
D) Heather follows Helen into the pond.
4. Which statement best describes Molly’s and Heather’s relationship at the end of the novel?
A) They dislike each other but agree not to fight.
B) They do not trust each other.
C) They still wish their parents had not gotten married.
D) They are true sisters, not enemies.
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. In what ways are Heather and Helen alike?
2. Why is Heather afraid to tell Dave her secret?
3. What do Molly and Heather learn about their parents’ love?
4. What does Molly mean when she says that they need to “learn to be a family” (Chapter 14)?
Quizzes – Answer Key
Chapters 1-4
Reading Check
1. a renovated church in the country (Chapter 2)
2. Michael and Molly’s new stepsister (Chapter 1)
3. There is a graveyard on the property. (Chapter 2)
4. Heather hates them, thinks they are mean to her, and she does not want to live with them. (Chapter 3)
Multiple Choice
Short-Answer Response
1. Michael looks at the graveyard as a source of historical and scientific information. Molly is frightened by the thought of death and dead people. (Chapter 4)
2. She does not like how their family has changed since Heather came. Molly feels that Mom always takes Heather’s side, and Dave always believes Heather. Their family life is different and less happy. (Chapter 1)
3. The dead girl has the same initials as Heather: H.E.H. (Chapter 4)
4. They believe she is using lies and manipulation to break up Mom and Dave’s relationship. (Chapter 3)
Chapters 5-8
Reading Check
1. a fire (Chapter 6)
2. Heather says she will be Helen’s best friend and do “anything” to be friends. (Chapter 5)
3. a silver locket (Chapter 6)
4. an old burned-out house in the woods / Helen’s house (Chapter 6)
Multiple Choice
Short-Answer Response
1. He thinks Molly and Michael are trying to scare Heather and warns them to stop. He tells Molly to keep her fears to herself. (Chapter 6)
2. Michael does not believe in Helen. He thinks that she is Heather’s imaginary friend or that Heather is making things up to scare Molly. (Chapters 7, 8)
3. Heather thinks Helen is a better friend than Michael and Molly, and Helen “understands” her and likes her. (Chapter 6)
4. Molly recognizes that Heather is like the lonely, friendless girls who Mr. Simmons say drowned in the Harper Pond. (Chapter 8)
5. Many people in town believe the Harper House is haunted, and that a ghost girl lures people to death in the pond. (Chapter 8)
Chapters 9-12
Reading Check
1. Mom is angry because they were supposed to watch Heather and did not. (Chapter 9)
2. a ghost girl in a white dress (Chapter 9)
3. They find that their belongings and Mom’s paintings are all destroyed, but Dave’s and Heather’s things are undamaged. (Chapter 11)
4. vandals or kids from out of town (Chapter11)
Multiple Choice
Short-Answer Response
1. They fight about the kids: Dave takes Heather’s side and thinks Molly and Michael are trying to break them up. Mom wants Dave to admit that Heather lies about things. (Chapter 9)
2. Mom knows Heather is unhappy and tries to love her but has trouble reaching her. Mom sadly thinks Heather “isn’t easy to love.” (Chapter 9)
3. He believes there is no point in worrying about things he cannot control and tries not to think about them. (Chapter 10)
4. Molly is frightened by the thought of dying. She thinks it would be horrible to no longer be able to think and feel. (Chapter 12)
5. Molly thinks Heather is in danger because she is lonely; Molly is convinced Helen is going to hurt her. (Chapters 10, 12)
Chapters 13-15
Reading Check
1. eternal friendship (Chapter 12)
2. She accidentally started fire that killed her mother. (Chapter 14)
3. She sees the ghost of Helen’s mother return to forgive Helen. (Chapter 14)
4. the silver locket (Chapter15)
Multiple Choice
Short-Answer Response
1. Both girls accidentally started the fires that killed their mothers; both feel guilty; both want to be loved the most by their natural parent. (Chapter 14)
2. She is afraid he will no longer love her. (Chapter 14)
3. that their parents will always love them unconditionally (Chapter 15)
4. that they have enough love to go around; that it takes effort to build relationships (Chapter 14)
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