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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Beau discovered a message where?

2. Slip is treated with what?

3. Merit has taken a job working where?

4. Merit does what in the library?

5. The neighborhood has begun having a circus how often?

Short Essay Questions

1. Julia and Kari don't speak for over a year. What finally causes them to reconcile?

2. What is Slip's attitude toward her brother Fred's transformation?

3. What is the difference between Mr. Paradise and Eric, Merit's ex-husband?

4. Do you feel that it was right for Kari to be so attached to her dog and so upset that it died?

5. Was the accident that killed Faith's mother Faith's fault?

6. How does Kari finally tell Julia the truth and what happens, as a result?

7. Do you think that Faith handled Beau well, when Beau was crying in his room?

8. Describe the complete change in Audrey between the beginning of the book and the nineties.

9. Why does the book club plan to reunite Audrey and Slip eventually succeed and how?

10. How is Slip's illness reminiscent of the opening of the book and what could it mean in reference to the beginning of the book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Keeping secrets is a major theme of the book.

Part 1. Choose at least four secrets in the book and describe the pros and cons of keeping them, as well as what happened to the characters when those secrets were revealed.

Part 2. Based on your response to part 1, as well as your real life experiences, do you feel that keeping a secret is ever a good thing? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Foreshadowing is used a lot throughout the book. Write about one instance each for any three book club members where foreshadowing was used to give the reader a glimpse into that club member's future.

Essay Topic 3

Using at least three examples from the book, describe who you think the strongest member of the book club is and why. Also, using a different three examples, describe who you think the weakest member of the book club is and why.

(see the answer keys)

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