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

CHAPTERS 1-22

Reading Check

1. What job does LaVaughn discover on her school’s job board?

2. How old is Jolly?

3. What do LaVaughn and Jeremy plant?

4. When Jolly comes home hurt, whom does LaVaughn call?

5. How did LaVaughn’s father die?

Short Answer

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

1. How does LaVaughn describe Jolly’s apartment?

2. When LaVaughn first tells her mother she wants to go to college, how does her mom react?

3. Why does LaVaughn take the job at Jolly’s?

4. Why is LaVaughn’s mother concerned about LaVaughn’s job?

5. When Jeremy cuts Jilly’s hair, what is Lavaughn’s reaction and what does it reveal about her?

Paired Resource

Impact of Rising Heat in US Cities

• NPR’s article includes visuals and an 8-minute audio version examining one hardship in the inner city for people whose incomes are below the federal poverty threshold: intense heat. (Content Warning: This resource uses an insensitive term to refer to those coming from a low-income background.)
• Theme connections include The Challenges Faced by Teen Mothers and Coming of Age in the Inner City.