SP

=Sidney C.Parker Summer Reading Project 2012 Part II =

Q1. Who are Bryon and Mark? A. Bryon and Mark are two teenage boys growing up in Tulsa, Oklamhoma. They have been friends since they were small and consider each other brothers. They have very different appearances. Mark is short and has blonde hair and golden eyes, whereas tall and muscular Mark has dark hair and brown eyes.

Q2. Who are the two young people Bryon meets at the hospital? A. When Mark and Bryon are at the hospital visiting Bryon's mother, Bryon meets a boy named Mike Chambers, who was beaten after he did a favor to an african person. In the hospital cafeteria, Bryon runs into his friends older sister, Kathy. He doesn't recognize her at first and is in awe of how beautiful she has become.

Q3. What kind of relationship does Bryon have with Charlie? A. Charlie is the owner of a bar/pool hall located a few blocks from where the boys live. He and Bryon have remained friends even after Bryon and his sister separated. Because of this, Charlie allows Bryon and Mark to play in the pool hall even though they are underage.

Q4. What happens at the dance? A. Bryon and Kathy are at the dance, when they hear a scream coming from the parking lot. Everyone rushes outside to see that Mark got into a brawl with a man and was hit in the head with a bottle. Later that night, Bryon discovers that the man was HIRED by Angela, Bryon exgirlfriend, to pick a fight with Ponyboy Curtis. Ponyboy was in the car with Mark when the man showed up. Mark stepped in between the fight and ended up in the hospital  with ten stitches..

Q5. What does Bryon begin to discover in his private conversations with Mark? A. When Mark and Bryon are home from the hospital, Mark admits to Bryon in a private conversation that he felt safer with Bryon by his side. He tells Bryon that it feels like Bryon is the only real family he has. Even though Mark had a family once, he wasn't as close with them as he was with Mark.

Q6. What happened to Charlie? How do Bryon and Mark feel about it? A. Late one night, Bryon and Mark are coming home from Charlie's when two men they had hussled in a game of pool earlier that night step out of an alley with a gun in hand. The boys are scared stiff. Just then, Charlie appears behind the boys with a riffle.Charlie fires a warning shot as the men turn and flee.Just then, one of the men turns around and shoots Charlie just above his left eye. Bryon feels terrible because he thinks he is responsible for Charlie's death. Mark is fine about the entire expirience because he believes that what happened was meant to happen.

Q7. What do Mark and Cathy think of each other? A. Cathy, as Bryon's girlfriend, is naturally a friend to anyone Bryon cares about. She tries very hard to get Mark to like her. In truth, Mark doesn't. It is to be seen that Mark is slightly jealous of Cathy because it seems that there isn't enough Bryon to go around. Instead of hanging out with Mark, Bryon is often on a date with Cathy.

<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Q8. What does Mark do to Angel? Why? <span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A. When Mark and Bryon are driving down the Ribbon, a long, straight street lined with stores and places to hang out, they run into Bryon's exgirlfriend, Angela Shepard. At first she is nervous that Bryon would be mad at her about what happened to Mark at the dance. Slowly she relaxes and begins to talk to Bryon about her problems with her new husband. She hates her in-laws and, in her opinion,her husband is an absolute louse. She tell Bryon that he was the only guy she has ever cared about. They buy her some booze and drive her out to the lake. After a long cry, Angela dozes off on Bryon's shoulder. Mark is still holding a grudge against Angela, so he takes a pair of scissors out of his pocket and, while she is still asleep, cuts her hair off. Bryon and Mark drive her to her house and leave her in the front yard.

<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Q9. In chapter seven, what does Bryon begin to discover about his good friend Mark? <span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A. In chapter seven, Bryon realizes that he is drifting farther and farther away from his once brother Mark. Mark is making money, but he won't tell Bryon how. Mark doesn't have a job like Bryon does. Times are tough, and money is money, so Bryon and his mother don't question how he got it. Bryon just assumes he is gambling.

<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Q10. What happens to Bryon at Terry Jones’ house? How does his attitude change? <span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A. After Bryon drops Cathy at her house, he drives to Terry Jones' s house to pick up Mark. When he gets there, nobody is home. Bryon deciedes to sit on the porch and wait. He begins to remenis about how much life has changed in the past six months. Suddendly, a car pulls up to the house and four men jump out. Bryon recognizes two of them as Angela Shepard's older brothers, Tom and Curly. At first, Bryon acts cool, as though nothing ever happened to Angela, but later appologizes. The two men rush him while the other punch him until he blacks out. When he wakes up, his attitude has completely changed about the concept of getting even. He tells Mark that its just childish and down-right stupid.

<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Q11. In chapter nine, what happens to M&M? Why does this move Bryon? <span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A. M&M, Cathy's little brother, has run off to find a place where he will fit in. In chapter nine, Mark has found out where he is living. He takes Bryon and Cathy to a small, run-down hippie house. They talk to an old hippie on the way in who tells them that M&M, or "Baby Freak", has been "floating" for a few days.They find out that M&M has been doing acid. A man inside takes them upstairs to where M&M is. The man tells them that M&M has been trying to jump out the window and having hallucinations. When they first see M&M, Cathy is aghast. His hair has gotten longer, he has lost a lot of weight, and started talking about things that made no sense. His brain was fried. Cathy choked back sobs as she called her father. Bryon is absolute sick because the sweet, innocent, and smart boy he once knew and loved is gone.

<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Q12.What shocking discovery does Bryon make in Mark’s bedroom (chapter 10)? What does he do?ght <span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A. One night when Mark isn't at home, Bryon finds a capsule in the matress he is lying on. He opens it up and out spill white pills. Mark had been selling drugs! That's how he knew where M&M was! That is where the money had been coming from! Bryon is shocked and realizes how Mark has become a stranger to him. Bryon does the right thing despite how hard it is. He picks up the phone...and calls the cops.

<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Q13.How does Bryon’s relationship with his friends and his attitude toward life completely change? <span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A.Bryon's attitude and relationship changes because he is still grieved from the incident with Mark. He blocks out his friends and trows away his social life. He never mentions Mark or anything that happened in the past,

<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Q14.How does Bryon feel at the end of the book? <span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A. In the end of the book, Bryon feels nothing. He is numb with grief about losing his friendship with Mark. I don't think he regrets that he called the cops, but that he wishes that he never found the drugs in the first place. Bryon breaks his relationship with Cathy. His friends try to comfort him, but he only ever thinks about Mark.

<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Q15.What do you think about this book and what life message does it teach? <span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A. In my opinion, this is a very well written book. I believe it teaches a great life lesson to teenagers that growing and changing doesn't have to mean growing appart. Our futures and our relationships are based upon choices that we make and that teachers are preparing us for. This was not my favorite boo k just because I am not a huge fan of bitter-sweet endings.Other than that, it shows us we aren't always who we say we are.