Characters
Setting
Plot
Names
Symbols and Themes
Historical Context
100

Which character narrates the story?

Kenny

100

Name the CITY and STATE where the Watsons live.

Flint, Michigan

100

Who finally got Byron unstuck from the frozen car mirror?

Momma

100

What nickname did the Watsons give their car?

Brown Bomber

100

A major conflict in the story comes from Kenny's confusion about what other person's actions?

Byron

100

Name the movement that occurred in the 1950's and 1960's when people protested to change unfair laws in the U.S., especially the southern states.

Civil Rights Movement

200

What is Joey's actual first name?

Joetta

200

Name the CITY and STATE where Grandma Sands lives.

Birmingham, Alabama

200

When Kenny goes into the bombed-out church, he takes an object that he thinks belongs to Joey.  What is that object?

a shoe

(a "Buster Brown" shoe)

200

Name the hairstyle that Byron got and that made his parents mad at him.

conk (a.k.a. a do, a butter, a process)

200
Name the figure that Kenny sees during terrifying experiences relating to death.

Wool Pooh

200

What war was fought over the issue of slavery in the U.S. (and ended slavery when the war ended)?

Civil War

300

Name the three Watson children in order from oldest to youngest.

Byron, Kenny, and Joey

300

The story begins during what season of 1963?

winter

300

What does Momma threaten to do after finding Byron playing with matches again?

Burn Byron's finger

300

Fill in the blank with the name that completes this chapter title:

Give my regards to Clark, ____________.

Poindexter

300

Kenny feels more serious and grown-up after the Watsons' experience in Birmingham.  That change is shown by Kenny giving away what object(s).

toy plastic dinosaurs

300

What is the name for laws and rules that separate people of different races by keeping some groups out of certain places (like schools, parks, restaurants, hotels, pools, and bathrooms)?

segregation

400

What is the name of Byron's best friend?

Buphead

400

The Watsons' road trip passed through all of these states EXCEPT which one?

(a) Alabama      

(b) Arkansas         

(c) Michigan

(d) Ohio            

(e) Tennessee

(b) Arkansas

400

How many days did the Watsons wait to leave Birmingham after the church bombing?

None.  (They left that night.)

400

Chapter 15 is named after a space behind the Watsons' livingroom couch.  Complete the chapter name by filling in BOTH blanks:

The World-Famous Watson ________ _________.

Pet Hospital

400

After returning from Birmingham, Kenny's own confusion and guilt turn into angry feelings toward what other character?

Joey

400

Where were racial discrimination and segregation laws worst in the U.S. -  north, east, south, or west?

south (or southern states)

500

What are the first names of Mrs. Watson and Mr. Watson?

Wilona and Daniel

500
Name the elementary school that Kenny, Joey, and Byron attend.

Clark Elementary School

500

While at a rest stop in Tennessee, Byron scares Kenny (and himself) by describing what dangerous thing?

(a) bombs        

(b) garbage trucks     

(c) rednecks

(d) snakes        

(e) Wool Pooh

(c) rednecks

500

What insulting superhero name did Kenny give to Byron?

Lipless Wonder

500

Both Byron and Kenny are excited about hairs growing on their faces, because they think that mustaches and beards are signs of what?

growing up into men

500

In the summer of 1963, civil rights leaders in Birmingham decided to include what large group of people in protests against racial discrimination and segregation?

children

600

Name the bully who is known as the "king" of fourth grade at Clark Elementary School.

Larry Dunn

600

Name the place where Byron saved Kenny from drowning.

Collier's Landing

600

How does Byron suggest that Kenny could solve the problem of his lazy eye?

Turning sideways when he talked to people.

600

Name the record-player that Mr. Watson buys for the Brown Bomber car.

Ultra-Glide (or TT AB 700 Ultra-Glide)

600
Kenny teases Byron when he's in trouble for his new hairdo.  Byron compares himself to an alpha wolf, and he compares Kenny to what type of dog?

chihuahua

600

The bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church happened on what date?

September 15, 1963

700

Who does Kenny say is his personal "saver"?

Rufus (or Rufus Fry)

700

In what state did the Watsons stop at night and become scared by the dark, the tall mountains, and the starry sky? 

Tennessee

700

In what order did Byron, Kenny, and Joey hug Grandma Sands when they first arrived at her house in Birmingham?

Kenny then Joey then Byron

700

What is the brand name of Joey's shoes (and of the shoe that Kenny finds inside the bombed-out church)?

Buster Brown

700

Kenny thinks that bullies have a good sense of humor, but that it's not funny to the people they pick on.

Name three people who are the victims of bullies' cruel humor in the story.

Kenny, Larry Dunn, and Rufus (and Cody)

700

In Chapter 14, a bomb explodes inside a church where Joey was supposed to be at Sunday school.  Name the actual Birmingham church that was bombed on September 15, 1963.

16th Street Baptist Church

800

Name Grandma Sands' "dearest friend."

Mr. Robert

800

After leaving their home in Flint, the Watsons drive through Michigan's largest city, and they pass Tiger Stadium.  Name that city.

Detroit

800

What two "welfare foods" do Kenny and Byron remember their parents feeding them?

cheese and milk

800

What is the name of Kenny's favorite song (the record that he plays repeatedly on the Ultra-Glide)?

Yakety Yak

800

Byron and Kenny both feel upset that their parents had served them "welfare food" in the past, because they think that means what about their family?

They are poor

800

The men who were charged with bombing the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham all belonged to a group that promoted racial segregation and discrimination.  Name that group.

Ku Klux Klan (a.k.a. KKK)

900

What funny nickname does Dad call the guy in Alabama who Momma dated and almost married long ago?

Hambone Henderson

900

The Watsons' house has two bedrooms for the three kids.  Which Watson child has their own bedroom?

Joey

900

Kenny nearly drowns after slipping from the drop-off in the water at Collier's Landing.  What thing is Kenny trying to reach when he slips?

a turtle

900

Bobo Brazil and The Sheik are both names of what people?

Professional wresters

900

Byron shows his good and caring side when he tells made-up stories to try to keep Kenny and Joey safe.  What were those two stories about?

Froze-up southern folks loaded in garbage trucks.

AND

Wool Pooh snatching kids in water at Collier's Landing

900

How many people died inside the 16th Street Baptist Church when it was bombed, AND how many other people died in Birmingham that day because of the bombing?

4 girls inside the bombed church, and 2 boys from the violence in Birmingham afterward

1000
What is the name of Byron's fifth-grade teacher?

(He complimented Kenny for reading to his class.)

Mr. Alums

1000

What does Grandma Sands' house NOT have inside it? (She believes that it's cleaner to do this business outside.)

bathroom (or toilet)

1000

Mr. Robert claimed to have saved his dog Toddy after it had been drowned by what kind of animal?

raccoon

1000

Kenny finds Byron eating Swedish Cremes and apples in an alley behind what neighborhood store?  (Name the store)

Mitchell's (or Mitchell's Store)

1000

The author shows us that Larry Dunn's family is poor, and so is the family of Rufus and Cody Fry.  What visible trait shows this for all three boys?

clothing

(Larry Dunn wears a windbreaker and ripped t-shirt in winter and has holes in his shoes; and Rufus and Cody share their blue jeans.)

1000

After the Civil War ended slavery in 1865, some states passed unfair laws to discriminate against black Americans, and those laws lasted until the 1950's and 1960's.  What is the nickname for those unfair laws?

Jim Crow (or Jim Crow Laws)

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