Gods of Jade and Shadow

Chapters 1-2

Reading Check

1. Casiopea’s cousin (Chapter 1)

2. A lake within a cave (Chapter 2)

3. Casiopea’s grandfather (Chapter 1)

4. Hun-Kamé (Chapter 2)

Short Answer

1. “To encroach on her personal time and to irritate her.” (Chapter 2)

2. Because even though Casiopea doesn’t think she’ll go “anywhere where it would matter,” her mother is more forward-thinking and wants her to be prepared for any future. (Chapter 1)

3. Cirilo, Casiopea’s grandfather, hopes the healing waters will prolong his life. (Chapter 2)

Chapters 3-5

Reading Check

1. Mérida (Chapter 4)

2. A demon, the Marquis of Arrows (Chapter 4)

3. Vucub-Kamé (Chapter 5)

Short Answer

1. Martín feels threatened by Casiopea because, unlike everyone else in the house, she challenges him, making him feel less confident. (Chapter 3)

2. Casiopea is surprised at how open Loray is about allying himself with whichever of the two gods ultimately wins. (Chapter 4)

3. When Casiopea talks to Loray, she notices that he won’t say the name “Vucub-Kamé,” so she says it to see his reaction. She does not realize it, but in doing this, she alerts the death god that his brother has escaped. (Chapter 5)

Chapters 6-7

Reading Check

1. An asteroid (Chapter 6)

2. Wealth and status (Chapter 7)

Short Answer

1. Cirilo performs rituals and calls on Hun-Kamé for help, but Cirilo traps him instead. (Chapter 6)

2. Other gods cannot stray far from where they were born. Hun-Kamé can exist in many lands because he was born from an asteroid. (Chapter 6)

Chapters 8-9

Reading Check

1. Carnival (Chapter 8)

2. An enchanted rope (Chapter 8)

3. His ear (Chapter 9)

Short Answer

1. Casiopea believes she is not attractive because she has dark skin and hair. (Chapter 8)

2. Casiopea threatens to cut off her hand, thus releasing her from her bond with Hun-Kamé. (Chapter 8)

3. When Hun-Kamé nearly kills the Mam to get his ear back, she realizes he is a god of death. (Chapter 9)

Chapters 10-12

Reading Check

1. A moth (Chapter 10)

2. Martín (Chapter 11)

3. Her hair (Chapter 12)

Short Answer

1. Hun-Kamé explains that he cannot conjure her father because he is not in Xibalba. (Chapter 10)

2. The owl delivers a seashell in which Hun-Kamé’s laughter is trapped. (Chapter 11)

3. Where his remaining missing body parts are located (Chapter 12)

Chapters 13-16

Reading Check

1. A seductress spirit (Chapter 13)

2. A place in the family (Chapter 14)

3. A necklace (Chapter 15)

4. Baja California (Chapter 16)

Short Answer

1. Martín dreams of Casiopea laughing at him while his grandfather beats him. (Chapter 14)

2. When Casiopea bites down on the plants that have trapped her, bite marks appear on Xtabay’s arms. When Casiopea bites the plants, she bites Xtabay, breaking the Hun-Kamé spell. (Chapter 15)

3. Martín finds a place to drink and eventually summons Vucub-Kamé to explain that Casiopea will not speak to him. (Chapter 16)

Chapters 17-21

Reading Check

1. Vucub-Kamé (Chapter 17)

2. El Paso (Chapter 18)

3. A lavender rose (Chapter 19)

4. A sorcerer (Chapter 21)

Short Answer

1. Casiopea is concerned because Hun-Kamé told her that gods do not sleep, so she fears he is becoming mortal too quickly. (Chapter 18)

2. Casiopea dreams about walking the Black Road of Xibalba and that Vucub-Kamé is chasing her. (Chapter 20)

3. Zavala teaches Martín how to use the shadows to take shortcuts along the Black Road. (Chapter 21)

Chapters 22-25

Reading Check

1. He beheads it (Chapter 22)

2. Riding in a car with Hun-Kamé (Chapter 23)

3. Casiopea and Hun-Kamé’s sighs (Chapter 24)

Short Answer

1. When Vucub-Kamé hears Casiopea and Hun-Kamé’s sighs, he realizes they are falling in love. The only thing that would persuade Casiopea to give up her quest is to be rewarded with Hun-Kamé himself. (Chapter 24)

2. His prophecies do not predict his success. (Chapter 24)

3. He tells her that he will reward her with jewels for her help, but what she wants is him. (Chapter 25)

Chapters 26-29

Reading Check

1. Xibalba (Chapter 26)

2. The World Tree (Chapter 28)

3. Mortality for her and Hun-Kamé (Chapter 29)

Short Answer

1. Martín is expelled from boarding school, and his grandfather says he wishes Casiopea had been a boy. (Chapter 27)

2. If Casiopea wins, Hun-Kamé will retake his throne and earn the right to cut off Vucub-Kamé’s head. If Martín wins, Hun-Kamé shall lose his head, and Casiopea will be sentenced to an eternal afterlife in the Razor House, where knives fly through the air and slice the flesh of anyone inside. (Chapter 28)

3. Vucub-Kamé offers to make Hun-Kamé and Casiopea mortal together instead of facing the race in Xibalba, but Casiopea believes it is another trap. (Chapter 29)

Chapters 30-32

Reading Check

1. Francisco (Chapter 30)

2. A knife and water gourd (Chapter 31)

3. A death bat (Chapter 32)

Short Answe

1. To do so would be to claim him for herself, but she refuses to do that because the world will become full of death if Vucub-Kamé rules Xibalba. (Chapter 30)

2. He tells her that the road listens to her and not to listen to the road. This helps her determine which way to go when she reaches the crossroads by demanding that the road take her to the Jade Palace. (Chapter 31)

3. She offers a two-headed snake the bracelet Hun-Kamé gave her in exchange for the snake’s help to distract the Kamaztoz so that she can pass. (Chapter 32)

Chapters 33-35

Reading Check

1. Martín (Chapter 33)

2. Brings Casiopea’s body back to the surface of the lake (Chapter 34)

3. Loray (Chapter 35)

Short Answer

1. Casiopea realizes she cannot win the race and slits her throat as a final sacrifice for Hun-Kamé. (Chapter 33)

2. When Hun-Kamé arrives at the lake, he sees Casiopea’s dead body. He brushes his fingers along the slit of her throat, and she returns to life. (Chapter 34)

3. When Hun-Kamé returns Casiopea to the upper world, he removes the bone shard from her hand. Instead of the love he feels for her breaking his heart, it causes the flowers to bloom. (Chapter 35)