All about Alex
How long was Alex going to need to wait to get his license?
2 years.
Why did Sol get mad at Alex over New Year’s Eve?
He found out Alex was drunk driving and he was Alex’s punishment
What was the major event that started the entire novel?
Alex drunk driving and hitting the gnome.
Where was Alex headed before he had to deal with the police?
Confront his dad about leaving.
What did Alex do to the first officer he met?
Puked on him.
What does Alex find in the Sol’s locker?
A Jazz guitar (1954 D’Angelico New Yorker)
Why does Solomon Lewis not have decorations, get well cards, or family pictures in his room when Alex first visits?
No family comes to visit him.
Sol tells Alex about his wife. How did she die?
Drunk driving accident
Who was Alex's dad dating that upset him?
His former 3rd grade teacher.
What prank did Sol pull while Alex and Sarah were visiting him in the hospital?
He called her Laurie
What happened the night of the Sadie Hawkins dance that changed Alex’s plans?
Sol was in the hospital with pneumonia.
Sol has what disease?
Emphysema
When Alex is away at the concert, what does Sol do?
Dad showed up at Alex’s to tell him he was moving to where?
Philadelphia
Who’s mother was having a replacement baby?
Laurie's
Alex writes his first letter to the judge asking for a new assignment. Why?
He needs a mental health professional
He needs someone who can handle his medical needs
He is mean and rude to Alex
Laurie meets Sol and he pulls a trick on her. What was it?
He made her do things--make his bed, get his water, and rub his feet
What sweet gesture did Alex’s dad do to his mom so they’d start to get back together?
Hired a band to serenade her with their wedding song
What do we find about the judge?
She is Sol's daughter.
Where does Sol explain jazz music came from?
Funerals-they’d dance on the way back from the cemetery
What are the conditions of Alex’s probation?
100 community service hours
Pay back $500 for gnome
Learn a life lesson
Teach a life lesson
What special thing did Sol and Alex do at their second concert?
Duet on guitars
When Alex and Laurie are about to kiss in her room, what stops them?
Her bed frame split and they fell because she had been kicking it earlier.
What is Sol and his daughter’s relationship like at the end of the book?
They made up and she visited him.
What does Alex decide to do over the summer after Sol’s death?
Work full-time at the nursing home.