Chapters 7 and 8 Comprehension Questions

1. How is the smell in the library unlike the air anywhere else?

2. According to Bud, what does the phrase, “Haven’t you heard?” usually mean?

3. How do you think Bud feels when he hears that Ms. Hill has moved away? Explain: Why do you think he feels this way?

4. What is Hooperville/Hooverville?

5. What does the man in Hooverville mean when he says that President Hoover worked so hard to make sure every town had a Hooverville that it seemed criminal to call it anything else?

6. Why do you think Bud opens up to Deza Malone and tells her about his mother.  Provide evidence from the text to support your answer.

7. Why do you think the white people in Hooverville wont accept help from others?

8. What does Deza mean by saying that the poor kids all alone on the road are like dust in the wind?

9. What is the trick that Bud uses to help himself fall asleep?

10. Why do you think the police try to prevent the men from getting on the train?

11. Why did young men and boys leave home during the Depression?  Where were they headed?  What were the dangers?

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12. What did Bud’s mama tell him about doors closing?  What does this saying mean?