82 pages • 2 hours read
Jason ReynoldsA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
Reading Check
1. What game are the boys playing at the beginning of the story?
2. Which character oversees giving everyone else their nickname?
3. At Knit Wit, who steals the yarn? Who then pays for it?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Noodles prefer to sit on Ali’s stoop?
2. How and why did Needles start knitting?
3. How did Ali’s father get arrested?
Paired Resource
“Muhammad Ali Convicted for Refusing the Vietnam Draft”
Reading Check
1. Which young man in the neighborhood is considered the “jackass of all trades, master of none”? (Chapter 5)
2. What does Ali’s father want in exchange for the fancy clothes?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How do the boys get invited to Momo’s party?
2. Why does Noodles get mad at Black?
3. How does Noodles react when Ali confronts him about mistreating Needles?
Paired Resource
Reading Check
1. Who is the subject of Jazz’s crush?
2. What early fear prompted Ali to begin shadowboxing in the shower?
3. Who cooks dinner for Ali and Noodles?
4. What part of Noodle’s outfit doesn’t fit?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What does Ali discover about his father when looking for clothes?
2. Why does Noodles leave the dinner table in anger, without cleaning up after himself?
3. Why do the boys have trouble finding the house party at first?
Paired Resource
“History of Braids: More Than Just a Hairstyle”
Reading Check
1. Who sneaks in to check on Ali?
2. What body part does Ali hurt in the fight?
3. Whose help will Ali seek with his injury?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why isn’t Ali around when the fight begins?
2. How does the fight start?
3. What do we learn about Noodles’s family after the boys get Needles home?
4. How do Ali’s parents react when he reveals the events of the party?
Paired Resource
Reading Check
1. What does Ali remember seeing in his father’s car?
2. What does Noodles say to Needles to finally get him to calm down?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Jazz help Ali out with his punishment?
2. What news does Black have for Ali and his father?
3. Why is Saturday the “best day ever”?
Recommended Next Reads
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson
By Jason Reynolds