Key Terms
What is a synonym?
To be very loud and high-pitched.
Shrill
What does Cecile ask Delphine to hand over and why?
The money Papa gave her so that her and her sisters could eat
Why do Vonetta and Fern start fighting in the room? What started the fight?
Vonetta and Fern start fighting because Vonetta colored all over Miss Patty Cake with Black Magic Marker. The fight started when Vonetta did not defend Fern at the Center against the Ankton sisters.
Why is Delphine happy to be back in Oakland?
Delphine is happy to be back in Oakland because she is not judged by the color of her skin or who she is as a person. Also she is comfortable in Oakland and knows where everything is.
What figure of speech is this?
She ran as fast as a cheetah across the football field
Simile
To attack from a place of hiding
Ambush
Why does Cecile keep calling Fern "Little Girl" throughout the chapter?
Cecile calls Fern "Little Girl" because she is upset that she was unable to name her. That is one of the reasons why she abandoned the girls.
What did Delphine call Hirohito? Was she right?
Delphine called Hirohito "China Boy". She was wrong because Hirohito is actually Japanese.
What happened to Cecile? Why didn't she claim her kids?
Cecile was arrested with two black panthers. She did not claim her kids because she knew they would be taken away and possibly put into foster care.
What is the root word in this sentence?
The ceiling was impossible to clean without a ladder.
To cause or persuade to go somewhere
Lure
Sister Mukumbu uses the Earth revolving around the Sun as an example of?
The revolution.
Who is Brother Woods? What happened to him?
Brother Woods is Hirohito's father and he was arrested by the police.
What is the third that happens when Fern reads her poem?
A poet is born.
The students stood smiling, while the photographer was taking their picture.
Light
An unusual sight or public display
Spectacle
What does Nzila mean in Yoruba?
The path
What is the rally for? Why doesn't Delphine want to participate?
The rally is to Free Huey Newton and get Justice for Lil Bobby. Delphine doesn't want to go because she feels that the rally is going to be dangerous.
What did Fern see on the bus? How does she expose it?
Fern saw crazy Kelvin talking to a police officer/pig. She exposes him by writing a poem and speaking it at the rally in front of everyone.
Give me a sentence that has a metaphor in it.
(Open to answers)
To confuse; to perplex
Flummoxed
Why does Crazy Kelvin have a problem with Miss Patty Cake?
Crazy Kelvin does not like Fern's doll because it is white and it is not "African American" so it does not reflect who Fern is.
What is eating crow?
Swallowing your pride.
Cecile gives Fern the name Afua. At the end of the novel the girls get to hug their mother and experience what it actually feels like to be loved.