1. There is a bit of foreshadowing in these chapters regarding Leslie's death.  See if you can find examples.  What is the purpose of foreshadowing as a literary element?  Is it important to a first-read, or does it just get noticed on the second time through the book?
2. How is Jess' battle with fear and pessimism going at this point in the book?  We know how he starts out and we know how he ends up, but where is he in the transition in these chapters?
3. Is there significance or symbolism behind Bessie the cow, or is she just a cow?
4. The "sunlight in the purse" scene was in the movie but not in the book.  Why do you think the movie people thought that they needed to create that part?
   
5. Look at the chapter titles for the remaining chapters and use them to tell the remaining general plot.  Since you've seen the movie already (or maybe read the book already), this will be easy, BUT take some time and engage in a discussion about why the title is a good choice of words.

BTT 7:  Choose a Statement, Support in Paragraphs

BTT 1-6 Questions to Answer in Sentences

Chapter 1
1. Why does Jess want to be the fastest kid at Lark Creek Elementary School?
2. How important do you think it is to be the best at something?
3. What is Jess’s family like?  Is any of it familiar to you?
4. The setting is "rural" middle-class America. Is that a setting to which you can relate?

Chapter 2
1. Jess doesn't show his drawings to his dad. How do you think it must feel to have to hide something you love from someone you love?
2. Why is Miss Edmunds the only person Jess shows his drawings to?
3.  How does Jess’s family add to his feelings of loneliness?
4.  Why doesn’t Jess seem very interested in befriending Leslie when they first meet?

Chapter 3
1. Does Leslie worry much about what people think of her? What about Jess? Which of these two characters are you more like in that respect?
2. Why does Jess try to keep his distance from Leslie?
3. Do you think Jess should have spoken up and asked Leslie if she wanted to run? What would you have done, and why?
4. What does Leslie mean when she says to Jess, “You’re the only kid in this whole durned school who’s worth shooting”?

Chapter 4
1. Why do you think Miss Edmunds chooses to sing “Free to Be . . .You and Me” after meeting Leslie?
2. What makes Jess change his mind about Leslie? How does he feel about the way he’d acted before?
3. Why do Leslie’s classmates make fun of her when they find out she doesn’t have a television set?
4. What are some ways Jess shows he’s brave, even when he’s scared?
5. Jess’s mother implies that his father likes Jess playing with Leslie about as much as he likes his son drawing. And although Jess hides his drawings from his father, he does not hide Leslie. Why?
6. Why does Jess write about football when Mrs. Myers asks the class to write about their favorite hobbies? What is really Jess’s favorite hobby? What does Leslie write about? What would you write about?
7. What are some of the major differences between Jess’s and Leslie’s families?
8. What do you think Leslie and Jess bring to each other in their friendship?

 Chapter 5
1. Do you think Jess and Leslie are right or wrong to write a letter to Janice Avery and pretend it is from Willard Hughes? What would you have done, if anything, to get back at Janice for the trouble she caused you and others?
2. How does Jess feel about leaving the letter for Janice? How does Leslie feel?

Chapter 6
1. Why is it so important to Jess that he give Leslie something special for Christmas?  Can you relate?
2. Why is Christmas such an unhappy holiday at Jess’s house?  What does Jess do to try to make it happier?