1. Rocky decides that "Bolton, Kansas, is a microcosm of the world." How is your town or city like Bolton?

2. In her thirteenth year, Rocky says she learned about "art and life and sex and love." What did she learn about each?

3. What bonds Rocky and Python together? From Python's behavior, what do you guess about his life before Rocky saved him?

4. What bonds Rocky and Mick? 5. Why do some folks get so angry at Mick that they want to fight him, and why do others (like Tru and Rocky) grow to love him?

6. How does Porter's definition of art describe what Mick does for the residents of Bolton? Does it describe what Paulsen's novel does for readers? What art in general does for society?

7. Rocky is excited that Mick uses oak trees as the heart of the monument.

What is the significance and effect...