1. Are Jeff's personality characteristics more like his father's or his mother's?

Who do you think he wants to be more like at the beginning of the book? And at the end?

2. Why does Jeff call his father "the Professor"?

3. Why does Jeff continue to write Melody letters, even though she does not answer any of them? If Melody had written back, what do you think she might have written about—her own life or Jeffs?

4. Why does Gambo decide to make Jeff the heir to her estate?

5. What are the differences between the summer when Jeff is twelve and the summer when he is thirteen?