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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 bordered the north and south ends of town in Mooreland?

2. Why did Melinda win Fair Queen by default?

3. Where did Reed Ball, Zippy's neighbor, sit all the time and watch her house?

4. What kind of haircut was Zippy's favorite when she was little?

5. Which church was in the middle of town?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Zippy's interviews go with her mother?

2. How did Kai check on everyone at bedtime?

3. Why do you think Zippy's mom was absent during the night of the "dog-sitting?"

4. When Zippy asked her sister about the child with disabilities, how did her sister handle it? How did this show maturity in her sister?

5. Why did Zippy's neighbor Reed threaten to kill her dogs?

6. How did Zippy's dad's react to the teacher's comment that she colored outside the lines? Why do you think he reacted that way?

7. How did the population of Mooreland, Indiana, stay at about three hundred?

8. How did Zippy get her name? Why did the nickname stick?

9. What deal did Zippy and her dad reach about the pink Bible?

10. By throwing the runt piglet on the pile of dead carcasses, what did Julie show Zippy that she knew?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

After Zippy's dad confronted his neighbor Reed, he tells Zippy, "There's danger everywhere." What did he mean by this statement to his daughter? What was his bigger message?

Essay Topic 2

Does the author believe that Mooreland is the same now as it was when she grew up there? What does she say about the current residents? Why do you think she writes this disclaimer in the Prologue of the book? What, in Zippy's personality, is the author trying to protect when she does this?

Essay Topic 3

When did Zippy's mother show her independence? Do you think she returned to college? What do you think happened after Zippy's mother left that day on her bike? How do you think it changed the relationship between the mother and father?

(see the answer keys)

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