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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. Upon leaving their grandfather's house and starting to walk home, Jake suddenly stops in the middle of the road. What reason does he give for stopping?
(a) He cannot stop thinking about how much he wants Ariel back.
(b) He feels like he is going to throw up.
(c) He has realized that he left the bonus from their grandfather on the back of the toilet.
(d) He is having a vision of Ariel coming to tell him something.

2. How does the whole town find out about Karl's secret he divulges to Nathan?
(a) Karl decides to announce his secret at a town gathering.
(b) Frank and Jake overhear Karl's secret and tell Officer Doyle, who spreads the news.
(c) Nathan spreads the secret around the town.
(d) Ruth overhears Karl's secret and tells Emil, who spreads the news.

3. What secret does Karl share with Nathan that he has never told anyone else?
(a) That Ariel was his first girlfriend.
(b) That he is gay.
(c) That his father is illiterate.
(d) That he has a twin brother.

4. What emotion does Gus tell Nathan that he feels toward the strength of Nathan's faith in God?
(a) Anger.
(b) Gratitude.
(c) Amazement.
(d) Humility.

5. What simile does Gus use to describe Nathan's reaction to Ariel's death?
(a) Like a punch in the face.
(b) Like a knife in the back.
(c) Like a stranger in the night.
(d) Like a thorn in a rose.

Short Answer Questions

1. What reason do Julia and Axel give for cutting themselves off from the Drums as of late?

2. What is Nathan's reaction when Gus asks if Nathan would like some company after Ruth has left in anger over his choice of reading material?

3. What does Ruth's father call Nathan after Nathan leaves to apologize to the O'Keefe family for the racist treatment they are receiving?

4. When the sheriff calls Frank onto the porch and asks him a series of questions, about whom are the questions?

5. What does Ruth tell Frank about God when they go on a walk to the river together?

Short Essay Questions

1. What causes Ruth to get less and less hopeful about Ariel's safe return as phone calls continue to stream into their home?

2. What is the cause of Lise's heightened anxiety and frantic behavior when Nathan goes to Emil's house to talk to Ruth?

3. In what ways are the complicated nature of the grief cycle demonstrated to the reader through the experiences of Frank and Jake?

4. How does Nathan's sermon affect Frank?

5. What secret does Karl finally reveal to Nathan that makes it fairly clear that he had no hand in Ariel's murder?

6. What is the significance of how Frank spends the money he has been saving up from the yard work he does for his grandfather?

7. What is the first action Frank takes when he gets home as a result of listening to Nathan's sermon?

8. Who acts as the go-between, bringing news back and forth between the police station and the Drum family and how does this role fit the character's relationship to the family?

9. How do the themes of racism and larger injustice surface in the aftermath of Ariel's disappearance?

10. What, if any, clues do Karl, Frank, Jake, the sheriff, and Officer Doyle find when they get to Sibley Park, the site of the bonfire party?

(see the answer keys)

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