The read-aloud packet
Read Book 1 aloud, ten minutes a day
Penelope is a former early-childhood educator and a lifelong library kid, and she built this packet so a teacher or librarian can simply pick the book up and start. The packet includes a chapter-by-chapter read-aloud guide, discussion questions, and a feedback card for your class. It's offered on request — just ask, and it's yours. You're also welcome to ask for a free ebook copy of Book 1 for classroom use.
One honest note: every school system has its own process for approving shared books, and that part is up to your school. The packet is here to make the book easy to review and easy to read aloud once it's in your hands.
About the book
Clean, funny, family-friendly science fiction
For ages 9–14. Zeeter is a 17-year-old alien living an ordinary-looking life — with a secret ship, the best friends in the universe, and a race to find the Cobalt Crystal before the villains do. Themes a class can talk about: friendship and loyalty, keeping a secret vs. trusting your friends, courage to be different, and solving problems as a team.
How to use it
The ten-minute plan
- Ten minutes a day is the plan — right after lunch, or as a settle-down at the end of the day. Most chapters fit in one sitting.
- The whole book takes about 3 school weeks at that pace.
- Every chapter ends on a hook — a question, a surprise, or a “what do we do now?” — so stopping is easy and tomorrow has something to look forward to. That's by design.
- Three chapters are longer (2, 8 and 12). Split those across two days; each has a natural middle pause where the scene changes.
Chapter by chapter — no spoilers beyond the first lines
- ~14 min — Zeeter introduces himself… and his real name is unpronounceable.
- ~17 min — His parents don't seem like his parents. And he can look up anyone's past lives. (Longer chapter — fine to split.)
- ~12 min — Did he tell them about the Cobalt Crystal?
- ~8 min — Cynthia sees the inside of the ship. The shortest chapter.
- ~11 min — Meet Grinslow, and his little fire-breathing friend Bloot.
- ~11 min — Warrior nuns hid clues a thousand years ago. Nobody has cracked them since.
- ~11 min — Down to the farmhouse basement… and through the door.
- ~15 min — Five people descend from mid-air. (Longer — fine to split.)
- ~13 min — A movie theater inside a spaceship.
- ~12 min — Cynthia flips the ancient book upside down. Wait — why?
- ~14 min — “This isn't a language from another planet…” Famous, and he didn't even know it.
- ~16 min — Back through the portal to explore. (Longer — fine to split.)
- ~11 min — The lore books, and a box that no X-ray can see inside.
- ~11 min — The Cobalt Crystal, found. What it does… is Book 2's problem.
Questions worth two minutes
Pick one a day — no wrong answers
- Zeeter keeps a huge secret from almost everyone. When is keeping a secret the right thing to do — and when should you trust a friend?
- The gang solves problems no one of them could solve alone. What does each friend bring that the others don't?
- Zeeter has to “save the universe and still get home for dinner.” What do you think matters more to him — and why?
- If a crystal chose YOU, what would you do first?
After the last chapter: Books 2 and 3 are published, for the students who go hunting for what happens next — and Book 1 ends with the crystal found but NOT opened, so the class will have plenty of predictions to argue about first.
The feedback card
Tell Penelope how your class liked it
Every packet carries a feedback card, and Penelope truly loves hearing back. It asks: How did your students respond — Loved it · Liked it · Mixed · Not for us? Who was the favorite character in your classroom? What moment did the class react to most? Would you read Book 2 aloud to a class? No email address is printed on the card on purpose — send it back any way that's easiest: hand it to the person who gave you the packet, or message Penelope.