What lesson has Kenny learned by the end of chapter 15? Use the ACE strategy and text evidence to support your answer.
What does Dad mean by “He’s got to realize the world doesn’t have a lot of jokes waiting for him” in chapter 9?
A. Growing up in a racist world will require Byron to have more serious experiences than he is used to.
B. Byron must know that most adults don’t have a sense of humor, so Byron needs to learn to be serious.
C. Being immature and joking around won’t help Byron get a good job when he is older.
D. Byron thinks the world is a peaceful place, and he is wrong.
Which piece of evidence best supports the idea that it takes a lot of practice to learn how to be an adult?
A. “There are some things that Byron has to learn and he’s not learning them in Flint.”
B. “I didn’t really know how these white people could hate some kids so much.”
C. “You’ll learn from the mistakes your mother and I make, just like we learned from the mistakes our parents made.”
D. “The only one who didn’t do anything to get ready to go to Alabama was Bryon.”
How do Momma and Dad hope Birmingham will affect Byron?
A. They hope Byron learns to take school more seriously, because school will have the biggest influence on his future.
B. They want Byron to learn how to make friends, so that he has the support of others during such a serious time.
C. They hope it will help him understand the seriousness of racism, so he is prepared to face it as he grows up.
D. They want Byron to appreciate his siblings more, because there is nothing more important than family.
What has made Byron forget about his promise not to talk to Mom and Dad?
A. Byron is now excited to see Grandma Sands.
B. Byron rarely does what he says he is going to do.
C. Byron wanted Buphead to be impressed by him, but Buphead is no longer around.
D. Byron has calmed down after first learning about the trip to Birmingham and is enjoying himself on the trip.
What are Joey, Kenny, and Byron most afraid of in Tennessee?
A. wild animals that live in the mountains of Tennessee
B. the Brown Bomber breaking down on the mountain roads
C. not being able to follow Momma’s detailed plan for the trip
D. white people who live in Tennessee who might be violent towards them
Reread the following passage from chapter 10:
“Dad stuck his hand out of the window just as the song came on and said, ‘Feel that coolness. It feels like you’re running your fingers through silk.’ Me, Momma, Joey and even Daddy Cool all did what Dad told us to do, and Dad was right, it felt great.”
What does the above quote reveal about the Watson family in this chapter?
A. Even in a dangerous place, they are able to appreciate positive experiences.
B. They always do what Dad tells them to because they are afraid of him.
C. The weather is so much nicer in Tennessee than in Flint, Michigan.
D. They are so excited to be in the mountains for the first time.
Reread the following passage from chapter 11:
“I don’t know what got Joey started but she was off to the races with her tears. She was the only one who’d practiced what she’d say to Grandma Sands. She sniffed a couple of times then said, ‘Hi, Grandma Sands, it’s a really pleasure to meet you.’ You could only half understand what she was saying, she was blubbering so much.”
What does the above passage reveal about Joey as a character?
A. Joey is a loving and emotional person.
B. Joey is a careful person who plans things very well.
C. Joey overreacts to many different types of situations.
D. Joey was very nervous and scared to meet Grandma Sands.
Which piece of evidence best explains Kenny’s surprise when he meets Grandma Sands?
A. “I thought Grandma Sands would be bigger than Dad, I thought she’d be foaming at the mouth like she had rabies.”
B. “I’d imagined the cane would be as big as a tree trunk with crow and owls and lizards living in it.”
C. “Man, if you think Momma can talk Southern-style, you should hear Grandma Sands!”
D. “‘What?’ Grandma Sands’s voice popped like one of those big brown grocery bags being snapped open.”
What does Kenny mean by “instead of Dracula and Frankenstein it was like Dracula and a giraffe, and Byron was all neck” in chapter 11?
A. Byron is going soft and showing his neck to her.
B. Byron is being rude and disrespectful to Grandma Sands.
C. Byron is treating Grandma Sands differently than how Kenny expected him to.
D. Byron’s reaction to Grandma Sands shows that he is going to lose in the battle against her.
What is scary about Grandma Sands to Kenny and Joey in Chapter 12?
A. She is mean to everyone.
B. Her laugh sounds very scary.
C. She is very strict to children if they misbehave.
D. She speaks with confidence to Momma about Mr. Roberts.
Reread the following passage from chapter 12:
“Grandma Sands didn’t yell or scream or anything, but the way she said those couple of things made everybody who heard it shut their mouths and listen real hard.”
What does the above quote reveal about Grandma Sands as a character?
A. Because of her reputation, she doesn’t have to say very much to make people afraid of her.
B. She is too old and weak to speak loudly, so people have to listen carefully when she talks.
C. She expects people to listen when she talks, and because they respect her, they listen.
D. She bullies others, just like Byron, so people listen to her when she talks.
What is Kenny’s view of Byron in the beginning of chapter 13?
A. Kenny thinks Byron is too tired from the heat and doesn’t have energy to do anything.
B. He is disappointed and surprised that Byron is listening to Grandma Sands’s advice.
C. He views Byron as always being mean since he never lets Kenny have any fun.
D. Kenny is angry at Byron for choosing to spend time with Joey over him.
Which quote best reveals a change in Byron’s character?
A. “Well, the Wool Pooh is Winnie’s evil twin brother.”
B. “If Kenny wants to take his stupid little behind down there and get snatched, let him.”
C. “Who could understand Byron? Here was a chance for another Fantastic Adventure and he was going in the wrong direction.”
D. “Byron and the Wool Pooh started duking it out.”
Which quote best supports the idea that Kenny is an unreliable narrator?
A. “The Wool Pooh was some made-up garbage!”
B. “I knew if I went down one more time I was as dead as a donut!”
C. “Where he should have had eyes there was nothing but a darker cold-looking color. He grabbed my leg and started pulling me down.”
D. “Byron was…kissing the top of my head over and over!”
Reread the following passage from chapter 14:
“...the guy came out with a little girl in his arms. He had on the same thing Dad did, T-shirt and pajama pants, but it looked like he’d been painting with red, red paint.”
What does the above quote reveal about Kenny’s point of view?
A. Kenny is too young to understand what he is seeing, so he’s an unreliable narrator.
B. Kenny is so overwhelmed by what he is seeing that he isn’t able to fully understand or describe what he sees.
C. Kenny is so overwhelmed by what he is seeing that he thinks he sees his Dad in the church when he isn’t really there.
D. Kenny has never been outside of Flint, Michigan, so he doesn’t know enough about the world to understand what he is seeing.
Which statement best explains why Kenny thinks he sees the Wool Pooh again in this chapter?
A. He thinks this is a time that he needs to be brave, just like when he was almost drowned in the whirlpool.
B. He sees the Wool Pooh in situations that are full of noise and lots of people, like the church bombing.
C. He sees the Wool Pooh in situations that make him stressed and fearful, like the church bombing.
D. He thinks monsters hide in dark and scary places, like in the water and inside the dark church.
How does this chapter help readers develop an understanding of history?
A. It shows what everyday life was like for all citizens of the South during this time.
B. It shows the differences between Flint, Michigan and Birmingham, Alabama during the 1960s.
C. It helps the reader understand the way that families worked together in the past to help their children grow.
D. It illustrates the extreme violence and traumatic effects of racism against the black community in the 1960s.
Kenny hides behind the couch in chapter 15. What does this reveal about him?
A. He is too tired to deal with the “Weird Watsons.”
B. He believes the couch has magic powers that can turn him into a dog.
C. He is traumatized by the Birmingham bombing and needs a quiet place to sleep.
D. He is trying to recover emotionally from the trauma of the Birmingham bombings.
Which of the following quotations best shows the impact of the Birmingham bombings on Kenny?
A. “I could listen to Momma and Dad and it seemed like they spent most of the time trying to figure out how they could explain to us what happened.”
B. “I had been disappearing, but Momma really didn’t need to worry, I wasn’t going anywhere. I’d just been going behind the couch for a little while each day.”
C. “The only reason the big guys were playing with me was because Byron had threatened them when my back was turned.”
D. “Byron even started sleeping on the couch at night.”
How does this chapter develop Byron as a character?
A. Byron explains why people bombed the church.
B. Byron describes how Kenny saved Joey from the church.
C. It highlights Byron’s understanding of and concern for Kenny.
D. It provides another example of how Byron solves problems with made-up stories.