The hooking activity for the book "The Island of the Blue Dolphins" seems effective at stirring student interest through an introductory video about survival that leaves them wanting to know what happens. An individual task asks students to imagine being stranded and think of survival priorities, which engages their imagination. A group discussion would naturally follow about what others came up with. For the book "Bless the Beasts and the Children", the activity was less effective at capturing student interest. Rearranging the slideshow to elicit the theme of overcoming adversity through a few slides at a time could better engage students to think of challenges they could tackle.