Yancy Lopez Franco
Chapter One–Dead
1.How did Ruth’s (Mommy’s) family react when she married James’ father? She said that at the moment she
got married her family mourned her, to them she was breaking any kind of rule.
2.What was Mommy’s father like? Her mother? Ruth said that her mother was very gentle and meek, the
opposite of her father. She described her pretty face, but she had Polio, a kind of disease. She seems to love
her mother.
3.BEYOND THE TEXT: How important are names? How would your family react if you
changed your name? I think that names are not important to me, but my family could get angry if I decide to
quit one of them. Removing your names does not mean that you are going to erase your roots, or where you
come from.
Chapter Two–The Bicycle
1.Describe the bicycle. James described it as a huge old clunker, blue with white trim, with big fat tires, fuge
fenders.
2.How did McBride deal with the death of his step-father? What did he do?
I think that he loves him, he thought of him as his real father, but when he died he couldn’t continue with his life
normally. He dropped out of school and started doing bad things with his friends. For example, snatched
purses, smokeed, and more.
3.Beside riding the bicycle, what other unusual behavior does McBride remember about
his mother? He remembered that sometimes when she walked down the street he put his fist in the face of
some men as if he wanted to hit them, but he said that was before his dad's death. She seems intent on playing
the piano and she wanted to force them to go to college.
4.Describe the sleeping situation in McBride’s home.
As he described she put them to bed each night like slabs of meat. All night he had to inhale his brother's
breath and ate the toes of the other. Sometimes he couldn’t stay in bed anymore so he fell asleep on the cold
floor.
5.When did McBride realize his mother was white? How did she react when he asked her
about it? He realized that his mom was white when a few weeks had passed, as the days passed James began
to notice that his mother was different from the other kid’s mothers. When he asked her why he did not look like
her she only told him that she was his mother and she was paired with him and that was what mattered. Then
she said to him that he asked too many questions.
6.Why do you think Mommy unexpectedly sent the other children to fetch James from the
kindergarten school bus? I think that she sent his siblings unexpectedly because she wanted to take away the
fear or the habit of seeing their mother always there. Maybe it was the time to detach a little from each other.