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1. Describe Jame McBride's family life.

The eighth of twelve children, James McBride grows up in a chaotic but loving home. His mother is a Polish Jew, raised mostly in Virginia. She marries a black man and lives the majority of her adult life in New York City where people are a little more tolerant of her interracial marriage and children.

2. Describe Ruth's parents.

Ruth's father, Fishel Shilsky, was an Orthodox rabbi whom she describes as a fox and hard as a rock. Her mother, Hudis, was gentle and kind. Her left side was paralyzed from polio and she was blind in one eye.

3. How do things begin to go downhill for James when Hunter Jordan dies?

When Hunter Jordan dies, the family struggles to move on. James fails every class in school, starts to shoplift and, on one occasion, robs a petty drug dealer.

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