Number the Stars Quiz
How the Scales are Structured
Who Usually Takes This Test?
See How You Compare
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.
Example Questions From the Test
- He fears the chain will reveal a hidden message
- He needs to conceal visible evidence of Ellen’s Jewish identity
- He plans to trade the necklace for food
- He believes jewelry is forbidden after curfew
- Sweden has already liberated Copenhagen
- Sweden is neutral and not under Nazi occupation
- Sweden offers ships that will carry them directly to America
- Sweden permits them to join the Danish army openly
- An illegal newspaper reporting news of Danish resistance
- A Swedish organization that shelters children
- A false identity document carried by refugees
- A coded song used by Danish fishermen
Number the Stars Quiz - Description and methodology of the test
Readers who want to check their understanding of Lois Lowry’s novel can use the Number the Stars Quiz as a focused literature recall activity. The Number the Stars book quiz suits students, teachers, book-club members, and independent readers who want to connect story details with historical and moral questions. Its result shows where knowledge feels secure and which parts merit another look.
What This Assessment Explores
Rather than testing isolated facts alone, the questionnaire checks whether a reader can reconstruct the story’s world and understand why events matter. Items cover Copenhagen during Nazi occupation, the Johansens’ protection of Ellen Rosen, the escape toward Sweden, the Danish Resistance, Annemarie’s courage, the title’s meaning, and the roles of central characters. Several Number the Stars questions therefore connect plot memory with historical and thematic understanding.
The result reflects how securely those elements can be retrieved. The displayed scale is Number the Stars Knowledge (0-16), with three descriptive bands:
- Building Foundations (0-6) means the reader should revisit the main characters, setting, and sequence of events.
- Developing Knowledge (7-12) shows broad story knowledge while some motives, symbols, or Resistance details remain uncertain.
- Strong Knowledge (13-16) reflects a well-developed grasp of the novel’s plot, context, characters, and themes.
Methodology and Evidence Base
Questions use a multiple-choice format with four alternatives. They test recall and meaning: readers identify events, relationships, historical circumstances, symbols, and choices that reveal character. A response is counted by how well it matches the novel, not by the length of an explanation.
The score summarizes knowledge across the questionnaire. It locates secure recall and gaps rather than measuring a psychological trait or general reading ability. This Number the Stars test is most useful after reading the novel, especially when missed topics are reviewed.
Lowry (1989) supplies the primary content for the plot, characters, setting, and historical circumstances represented by the items. The questionnaire is conceptually consistent with Nugraheni and Hidayat’s (2018) discussion of Annemarie’s growth through a Bildungsroman lens, including courage, responsibility, and changing understanding; it is not an adaptation or validation of that study.
This online literature self-check has no established norm group or reported reliability estimate. Memory, guessing, rereading, and familiarity with the historical background can affect results, which are best read as a current snapshot of engagement with the novel.
- Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars. Houghton Mifflin, 1989.
- Nugraheni, Dinar Tri, and Bernadus Hidayat. “Annemarie Johansen’s Stages of Growing up: Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars as a Bildungsroman.” Lexicon, vol. 5, no. 2, 2018, pp. 167-179. 10.22146/lexicon.v5i2.41816.
Updated: