The Key to the Golden Firebird Summary & Study Guide

Maureen Johnson
This Study Guide consists of approximately 36 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Key to the Golden Firebird.

The Key to the Golden Firebird Summary & Study Guide

Maureen Johnson
This Study Guide consists of approximately 36 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Key to the Golden Firebird.
This section contains 295 words
(approx. 1 page at 400 words per page)
Buy The Key to the Golden Firebird Study Guide

The Key to the Golden Firebird Summary & Study Guide Description

The Key to the Golden Firebird Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. This study guide contains the following sections:

This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion on The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson.

May, Palmer and Brooks Gold lost their father to a heart attack as he was exiting his beloved classic Firebird after work. The death was sudden and unexpected, leaving the family in shock. A year goes by and the girls and their mother are trying to hold on to some semblance of a normal family life. However, the private pain that each member is experiencing is driving them apart.

May Gold is the main focus of the story. However, the story is also recounted from her sisters' point-of-view. May is the dependable, middle child. May is responsible for her sisters while her mother works. In order to help her family, May needs to pass her driver's exam. Pete, her family friend and crush, offers to help her. May passes her driver's test and begins to discover her feelings for Pete.

Brooks Gold is the oldest daughter. She can't handle the passing of her father and begins to act out, getting drunk and high. Brooks is put on probation after receiving a DUI. The differences in expectations for Brooks and May causes sibling rivalry and hard feelings between the two.

Palmer Gold is the baby of the family. She watches as her family falls apart, but is unable to connect with her sisters in order to talk to them about what is happening. Palmer works out her feelings on the softball field. She finds their father's ashes and institutes a plan to bring the girls together.

The girls spread their father's ashes on the pitcher's mound at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland. The risks that they take in doing so help to bond the sisters together. In the end, the Gold women move forward in their lives together as a family unit.

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This section contains 295 words
(approx. 1 page at 400 words per page)
Buy The Key to the Golden Firebird Study Guide
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The Key to the Golden Firebird from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.