1. Why and when does Corinna’s father get mad at her?
On New Year’s Eve, Mr. Burdette starts to complain to Corinna. He starts to yell, stating that her room was becoming too dirty, and she never played her flute anymore. This is shocking for not only Corinna, but the reader as well because Mr. Burdette is an individual who never yells, he is more of a quiet and funny man.
2. What song makes Corinna almost cry in class? When does this happen and why does it happen?
Before she died, Mrs. Burdette would listen to the band the Dixie Chicks all the time. This was her favorite band, and she would sing the verses to all the songs very loudly during the day, which made everyone in the family very annoyed. Months after Mrs. Burdette passed away, the Dixie Bands’ songs were being played during Ms. Carey’s class. Corinna, who remembered every verse to the song due to her mother, almost cried. She had remembered all the times she had spent hearing her mother singing their annoying songs, and she wished that she could hear her mother sing it once more.
3. What is the grief group?
The grief group consists of fifth, seventh, and eighth graders who have come together to share their mixed feelings about the loss of someone that had loved. The five members, Max, Chris, Robert, Corinna and Yasmine invite Clare, who had lost her father three years before.
4. Why are Clare and Corinna talking about their future weddings?
During one of their daily gmail chats, the girls start to discuss their future, specifically their weddings. Corinna starts to realize that since she had lost her mother, she would not be able to get prepared with her mother. On the other hand, Clare starts to worry that she will have no one to walk her down the aisle, due to her father’s death three years before. Through many talks about this subject, Corinna and Clare conclude that Clare’s mother would take care of Corinna, while Corinna’s father would walk Clare down the aisle.
5. What is death jeopardy?
During one of the sessions of the grief group, they start to play a different type of jeopardy. It was a game that consisted of the phrase “passing away”. The one question that everyone in the group answered the same was “share a fear, or worry that you had since your parent died.” Every single member of the group said that their biggest fear was that the other parent might die.
6. How does death jeopardy make the members of the grief group feel?
Death jeopardy made the students feel better because they could finally relate to someone, since that other person went through the same thing. They could make jokes, and most importantly, others actually wanted to hear each other’s stories. Members of the groups liked to hear what their peers had to say about a specific topic, or what that person had gone through. In this game, people would not just listen, they would understand.
7. What does Corinna decide to make for her project in sewing class? Who makes a rude comment about her project?
Corinna decides that for her project she is going to make a memory quilt out of her mother’s clothes. While she was cutting up her mother’s clothes Billy Bradley, the dork of the class, asks Corinna why she was using such ugly scraps for her quilt. He continues to ask Corinna this question until she blows him off by saying, “get a life.” After class, Corinna explains to the teacher why she was using the “ugly” scraps. Mrs. Carey then gives her a long comforting hug, as if she was reassuring Corinna that everything was going to be okay.
8. Who and where are the Burdette’s going to for Corinna’s birthday? Why does Corinna love this person?
Before the end of February, which is around Corinna’s birthday, Mr. Burdette informs Corinna that they were going to visit Aunt Jennifer. Aunt Jenifer, who lives in California, is someone who has been closest to Corinna ever since her mother’s death. The reason why Corinna loves and respects Aunt Jennifer is because she is one of the few people who understand what Corinna is going through.
9. What does the duck symbolize to Corinna?
One day after school, Corinna notices a lonely duck swimming in the pond. She starts to watch the duck, and after a while she realizes that ducks usually have a mate for life. After a while, she notices another duck standing by the pond. Slowly, the two ducks unite, and suddenly become inseparable. Corinna sees the lonely duck as herself, since she had lost someone she loved dearly. She sees the new duck, as a new loved one, which may symbolize a new family member or friend for Corinna.
10. What smell does Corinna despise? What memory comes up in her head whenever she smells that odor?
During the day, Joci, one of her close friends, gets a bloody nose. Corinna escorts Joci to the nurse’s office, and once they enter, Corinna smells the odor that she hated. The smell was the medical type of smell, which brings her back to all the times she spent at the hospital with her mom.
11. What happens at the dance?
At the dance, Corinna has a horrible time, due to the fact that the boy she liked, Alex, did not ask her. Half of the time she was avoiding Hank, who had tried to ask her to dance. Other times she stood their, watching her friends and peers dance and have fun. When she gets back home, she calls her mother’s old cell phone number, which always gets her in a better mood because she was able to hear her voice through the voicemail. Sadly, she realizes that her father had deleted that number, which makes her go into her room for numerous hours, realizing that her mother was really gone.
12. How did Mr. and Mrs. Burdette meet?
For Mrs. Burdette’s birthday, Corinna and Mr. Burdette by chocolate cake and yellow roses, which were the two things that Mrs. Burdette adored. While they ate the chocolate cake, they sat by Mrs. Burdette’s ashes. Suddenly, Corinna decided to ask her father the how they even met. He tells her that they met at a friend’s wedding, where she was in the orchestra and he was a guest. They ran into each other in the kitchen because they both wanted to eat the extra chocolate cake that was left. Ever since that moment, they talked and started to fall in love with each other.
On New Year’s Eve, Mr. Burdette starts to complain to Corinna. He starts to yell, stating that her room was becoming too dirty, and she never played her flute anymore. This is shocking for not only Corinna, but the reader as well because Mr. Burdette is an individual who never yells, he is more of a quiet and funny man.
2. What song makes Corinna almost cry in class? When does this happen and why does it happen?
Before she died, Mrs. Burdette would listen to the band the Dixie Chicks all the time. This was her favorite band, and she would sing the verses to all the songs very loudly during the day, which made everyone in the family very annoyed. Months after Mrs. Burdette passed away, the Dixie Bands’ songs were being played during Ms. Carey’s class. Corinna, who remembered every verse to the song due to her mother, almost cried. She had remembered all the times she had spent hearing her mother singing their annoying songs, and she wished that she could hear her mother sing it once more.
3. What is the grief group?
The grief group consists of fifth, seventh, and eighth graders who have come together to share their mixed feelings about the loss of someone that had loved. The five members, Max, Chris, Robert, Corinna and Yasmine invite Clare, who had lost her father three years before.
4. Why are Clare and Corinna talking about their future weddings?
During one of their daily gmail chats, the girls start to discuss their future, specifically their weddings. Corinna starts to realize that since she had lost her mother, she would not be able to get prepared with her mother. On the other hand, Clare starts to worry that she will have no one to walk her down the aisle, due to her father’s death three years before. Through many talks about this subject, Corinna and Clare conclude that Clare’s mother would take care of Corinna, while Corinna’s father would walk Clare down the aisle.
5. What is death jeopardy?
During one of the sessions of the grief group, they start to play a different type of jeopardy. It was a game that consisted of the phrase “passing away”. The one question that everyone in the group answered the same was “share a fear, or worry that you had since your parent died.” Every single member of the group said that their biggest fear was that the other parent might die.
6. How does death jeopardy make the members of the grief group feel?
Death jeopardy made the students feel better because they could finally relate to someone, since that other person went through the same thing. They could make jokes, and most importantly, others actually wanted to hear each other’s stories. Members of the groups liked to hear what their peers had to say about a specific topic, or what that person had gone through. In this game, people would not just listen, they would understand.
7. What does Corinna decide to make for her project in sewing class? Who makes a rude comment about her project?
Corinna decides that for her project she is going to make a memory quilt out of her mother’s clothes. While she was cutting up her mother’s clothes Billy Bradley, the dork of the class, asks Corinna why she was using such ugly scraps for her quilt. He continues to ask Corinna this question until she blows him off by saying, “get a life.” After class, Corinna explains to the teacher why she was using the “ugly” scraps. Mrs. Carey then gives her a long comforting hug, as if she was reassuring Corinna that everything was going to be okay.
8. Who and where are the Burdette’s going to for Corinna’s birthday? Why does Corinna love this person?
Before the end of February, which is around Corinna’s birthday, Mr. Burdette informs Corinna that they were going to visit Aunt Jennifer. Aunt Jenifer, who lives in California, is someone who has been closest to Corinna ever since her mother’s death. The reason why Corinna loves and respects Aunt Jennifer is because she is one of the few people who understand what Corinna is going through.
9. What does the duck symbolize to Corinna?
One day after school, Corinna notices a lonely duck swimming in the pond. She starts to watch the duck, and after a while she realizes that ducks usually have a mate for life. After a while, she notices another duck standing by the pond. Slowly, the two ducks unite, and suddenly become inseparable. Corinna sees the lonely duck as herself, since she had lost someone she loved dearly. She sees the new duck, as a new loved one, which may symbolize a new family member or friend for Corinna.
10. What smell does Corinna despise? What memory comes up in her head whenever she smells that odor?
During the day, Joci, one of her close friends, gets a bloody nose. Corinna escorts Joci to the nurse’s office, and once they enter, Corinna smells the odor that she hated. The smell was the medical type of smell, which brings her back to all the times she spent at the hospital with her mom.
11. What happens at the dance?
At the dance, Corinna has a horrible time, due to the fact that the boy she liked, Alex, did not ask her. Half of the time she was avoiding Hank, who had tried to ask her to dance. Other times she stood their, watching her friends and peers dance and have fun. When she gets back home, she calls her mother’s old cell phone number, which always gets her in a better mood because she was able to hear her voice through the voicemail. Sadly, she realizes that her father had deleted that number, which makes her go into her room for numerous hours, realizing that her mother was really gone.
12. How did Mr. and Mrs. Burdette meet?
For Mrs. Burdette’s birthday, Corinna and Mr. Burdette by chocolate cake and yellow roses, which were the two things that Mrs. Burdette adored. While they ate the chocolate cake, they sat by Mrs. Burdette’s ashes. Suddenly, Corinna decided to ask her father the how they even met. He tells her that they met at a friend’s wedding, where she was in the orchestra and he was a guest. They ran into each other in the kitchen because they both wanted to eat the extra chocolate cake that was left. Ever since that moment, they talked and started to fall in love with each other.