Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Prologue-Chapter 2

Reading Check

1. What is Jarrett practicing with Grandpa Joe in the graveyard?

2. Where did Joe and Shirley meet?

3. Where did Grandpa Joe serve during World War II?

4. Which of the grandparents broke off their relationship during the war?

5. What did the couple do when they reunited after the war?

6. What did Joe sell illegally?

7. Where did Joe’s parents meet?

8. Who bought the house for Jarrett and his mother?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Joe complain when he visits the gravesite of his parents?

2. Why did Jarrett’s father refuse to acknowledge his son?

3. What is unusual about Jarrett’s homelife with his mother?

4. How was Leslie irresponsible as a mother?

5. What changes are made to Jarrett’s life after he moves in with his grandparents?

Paired Resource

“Art for Self-Care and Mental Health”

• This article describes the benefits of art.
• What are the psychological benefits of art? How does art affect cortisol? Does someone have to be a talented artist to reap the benefits? What are the ways in which someone can practice artistic pursuits? How is this article related to the novel’s themes of Comics and Art-making and Parenthood and Family?