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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 is one of Marlee's fears that prevents her from feeling comfortable doing the thing Liz asks her to try for the first time in Chapter 36?

2. What does Mrs. Dalton ask of Marlee before she leaves her first WEC meeting?

3. What do Marlee and her mother do together in Chapter 45 that Marlee's mother lets her skip school for?

4. What is Marlee's father's surprise Christmas gift for the whole family?

5. What does Red do to the Negro street cleaner at the Christmas parade?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Marlee's mother tell her about the origins of Marlee's name when she gives her the letter opener on her birthday?

2. What does Red do at the Christmas parade that upsets Marlee?

3. What problems does Liz tell Marlee she experiences once she has to attend the Negro school in her neighborhood?

4. What big news does Judy tell Marlee over Thanksgiving break and what does Marlee think about it?

5. What did Betty Jean tell Marlee about what the NAACP had advised Negroes about sending their children to private segregated schools?

6. What idea does Marlee come up with to help Liz be quiet in tense situations?

7. What do the leaders of the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools (WEC) insist is their only mission and why?

8. Why does Liz not understand why Marlee stopped liking JT?

9. What is the reason Marlee's father gives when she asks him why he helped Curtis get out of jail?

10. What does Marlee tell her mother when her mother comes to pick her up from Sally's roller-skating party?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Marlee forms an unusually intense relationship with Liz. Write an essay analyzing why Liz's friendship meant so much to Marlee.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the book, Marlee struggles to find her voice so she can stand up for what she believes in. In contrast, Liz struggles to suppress her voice, because she finds herself in perilous situations as a young Negro girl who speaks her mind. Write an essay comparing and contrasting the nature and meaning of Marlee's and Liz's struggles.

Essay Topic 3

Although she is a minor character, JT's mother, Mrs. Dalton, has the most to lose from her involvement in the WEC (Women's Emergency Committee to Re-open Our Schools). Write an essay analyzing why Mrs. Dalton chooses to get involved on the more pro-integration side of the debate and the impact her choice to let Marlee open Red's trunk in chapter 54 has on the novel's resolution.

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