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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 did Virgil's grandmother tell him when she arrived at the airport in the U.S. for the first time?

2. What question does Chet remember Valencia asking when they had a reptile demonstration at school?

3. What does Virgil's mother and other family members call him that he hates?

4. What does Valencia's father eat often that annoys her mother?

5. What is Gen Tanaka's favorite color that dominates her room?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 3, what is a criticism Lola has of Virgil's mother when it comes to food?

2. What happens in Valencia's nightmare in Chapter 2?

3. In Chapter 11, what does Lola warn Virgil about for the day ahead?

4. In Chapter 5, what does Virgil suspect is wrong with Gulliver, and why does he think this?

5. In Chapter 1, why does Lola suspect that Virgil is looking upset?

6. What kind of a chart does Kaori have that she explains to Gen in Chapter 14?

7. In Chapter 4, what does Kaori say to her little sister Gen to entice her to wake up and help her?

8. What kind of advice does Virgil seek from Kaori Tanaka, and who is Kaori?

9. In Chapter 15, what is Valencia looking for in the woods, and why?

10. What does Kaori text to Valencia in Chapter 9 to try to convince Valencia of the reason she sounds older than 12 years old?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Kelly use both pacing and plot points to build and sustain suspense throughout the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Which characters in the book does Valencia identify as being particularly mindful of her "How-tos," or her simple set of three rules for making it easier for her to understand what people are saying to her? What does it mean to Valencia when people respect her request and make an effort to try to communicate effectively with her?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the language and sentence structure Kelly uses in Kaori's dialogue compared to the other four children in the book - Virgil, Valencia, Chet, and Gen. How is Kaori's vocabulary and tone different from that of the other childrens'?

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