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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. What Mexican food does Gabi's family eat at Thanksgiving?

2. How does Gabi feel about Halloween?

3. What poem does Ms. Abernard give on a secret reading list to Gabi and some other students?

4. Why is Beto so upset on November 28?

5. Why is Gabi disappointed with her father's latest attempt to get sober in her October 21 entry?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Gabi dislike wearing dresses?

2. Who is Gabi named after?

3. Why does Gabi decide not to tell Eric, her new boyfriend, about what is going on with her father's struggle with addiction?

4. Who does Gabi first have a crush on when her senior year starts and why does it never work out between them?

5. What does Gabi hide in various places around her room that she refers to as her stash?

6. What does Gabi's mother say to her every time she goes out with a guy?

7. What does Gabi's poem that she shared in class in October reveal about her relationship with her grandfather?

8. What does Gabi see Eric doing at the mall that makes her break up with him?

9. What is the main reason that Tia Bertha moves in with the Hernandez family as Gabi starts the school year?

10. Who does Gabi find out is spreading the word at school that Cindy is pregnant?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the phrases Gabi's mother repeatedly says to her as advice on how to handle relationships with boys and men is "eyes open, legs closed" (7). Write an essay analyzing how Gabi feels about this advice, especially in light of the fact that her mother experiences an unplanned pregnancy herself during the course of the novel.

Essay Topic 2

What is it about the phrase "boys will be boys" that annoys and enrages Gabi so much? Gabi writes a poem in list-format on her feelings about the phrase; what specific traumatic event in the novel does it directly connect to? Write an essay explaining your answer.

Essay Topic 3

What does Gabi's relationship with Eric, her first real boyfriend, reveal to her about the realities of being in a committed relationship with a boy? Write an essay exploring your answer, paying particular attention to the gap between Gabi's expectations of what having a boyfriend would be like compared to the reality of having Eric as her boyfriend.

(see the answer keys)

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