8+Watsons+---+5

Part I: Please answer the following questions for chapters 13-15 and the Epilogue.

1. Why do Momma and Dad worry more about Kenny than about their other children when they return to Detroit?

2. Do you think Byron and Kenny should have kept the incident at Collier's Landing a secret from their parents? Why or Why not?

3. Why do you think it takes Kenny so long to grasp the seriousness of the bombing or realize that Joey is alive?

4. Why do you think the author describes the Watsons' trip south in detail but does not describe the trip back to Detroit?

5. Why do you think Kenny spends time behind the couch after returning home? How might his time there really help him?

6. What do you think Byron meant when he said, "Kenny, things ain't ever going to be fair...But you just gotta understand that that's the way it is and keep on steppin'." Was this good advice? Would you have said something different to Kenny?

7. Why do you think the author put the information about the Civil Rights Movement in an epilogue at the end of the novel, instead of in a prologue at the beginning?