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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who calls the "friends" to tell them about Julian's problems?
(a) Ayinde.
(b) Lia.
(c) Richard.
(d) Kelly.

2. While the friends are at the park, Lia notices something about Oliver. What does Lia notice about Oliver?
(a) That he looks like his dad.
(b) That he has his first tooth.
(c) That he has lost weight.
(d) That he is growing up, becoming a little boy.

3. After telling Richard to leave, what is the first thing that Ayinde does?
(a) She calls her friends and asks them to come over.
(b) She cries.
(c) She calls her mom.
(d) She goes to the park.

4. What do Kelly and her siblings decide is worse than being poor?
(a) Being rich.
(b) Being hungry.
(c) None of the above.
(d) Accepting charity.

5. Lia remembers Sam putting a ring on her finger and asking her to let him be in her family now. What was the ring made of?
(a) Silver.
(b) A straw wrapper.
(c) Gold.
(d) Ribbon.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Kelly solve the problem at her event in "December Kelly"?

2. What does the quote "This is so much harder than I ever thought it would be" refer to?

3. Who helps Ayinde get into the cardiologist sooner?

4. Who is the first one to kiss Andrew when he arrives home from work?

5. Which baby says their first word during this gathering?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Ayinde implement what she learned from her parents in her childhood: that she was a lucky little girl to live so well and she had to be kind and helpful to those less fortunate?

2. Describe how Kelly struggles in "December Kelly" with raising the baby and working.

3. How does Becky convince Andrew that they can't just give his mother what she wants?

4. In the chapter "February Lia," how is it shown that Lia is still in love and wants to reach out to Sam?

5. Explain how the title of the story has a double meaning.

6. How is Mimi's self-absorption shown in "October Becky"?

7. Starting with "November Lia," tell how Lia is beginning to appear on the road to recovery.

8. How does the need for communication show in "February Kelly"?

9. How does the author address the common feeling among mothers that they aren't as good at mothering as everyone else they know, or that they lost their temper and yelled?

10. What is symbolic about Lia mentioning that she wished she had her mother's blue coat when she is going to talk to Merrill?

(see the answer keys)

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