IMPORTANT: Comprehension questions will be in chronological order as you read through the story. Page numbers are approximate, and will vary with different editions of the book.
Section 1: Chapters 1–6
Vocabulary
- harrumphed: to clear ones throat noisily
- majestic: having or showing impressive beauty or dignity
- muumuu: a woman’s bright and loos fitting dress
- skedaddle: to depart quickly or run away
- venetian blind: a horizontal slat to cover a window that can be opened to let more or less light in
- wan: pale and giving the impression of illness
- “Miss Hattie harrumphed.” (pg. 37)
- “Behind the post office grew a majestic silver maple tree.” (pg. 5)
- “Miss Eula wore one of the muumuus her son Johnson, had sent her over
the years.” (pg. 27) - “Just look at how she skedaddled out of here.” (pg. 15)
- “But he wasn’t there, so they did it themselves with no audience but
the nosy neighbors, who drove by the house slowly or peeked out
from behind their venetian blinds.” (pg. 25) - “She gave Miss Mattie a wan smile.” (pg. 8)
Comprehension Questions
- The tallest of the three men yelled for Ruby to stop and return the hens. (pg. 2)
- Ruby uses a dry hole in the tangled roots of a tree for her secret mailbox. (pg. 6)
- Melba Jane spits the word: “Chicken” at Ruby when she sticks out her chin. (pg. 12)
- Ruby responds angrily, saying, “Poor old me!”, when Miss Eula says, “Poor old Melba!” (pg. 16)
- The word “Honolulu,” was written accross the page of Ruby’s mother’s notes. (pg. 16)
- After Ruby takes a big bite of a biscuit, her mother tells her how hard it is to lose someone that you have known for a long time. (pg. 22)
- Grandpa Garnet’s favorite flowers were holly hocks, bee balm, lemon verbena, pepper mint, and black-eyed susans. (pg. 25)
- Miss Eula’s big surprise is that Ruby gets to take care of her house when she goes to Hawaii. (pg. 32)
- Miss Eula tells Ruby that they will be under the same sky no matter where they are. (pg. 35)
- Miss Eula thanks everybody for what they have done for her when she turns to the crowd. (pg. 39-40)
- Ruby said, “Woe is me,” and it was reported in the Aurora County News. (pg. 45)
- Ruby offers Miss Eula the free advice that it is never too late to change her mind in her June 9 letter. (pg. 48)
Section 2: Chapters 7–12
Vocabulary
- bunions: a painful swelling on on the big toe
- genius: exceptional natural creative power
- mesmerized: to hold the attention of something
- snarl: to make an aggressive growl with bared teeth
- tornado: an extremely violent windstorm
- tropical: very hot an humid weather
- “Ruby swept the wooden floors and filled the cracker barrel and listened to
the customers talk about bunions.” (pg. 53) - “A genius, of course.” (pg. 59)
- “Ruby sat cross-legged on a porch rocker and watched Dove, whose
blue eyes were transfixed, mesmerized by Melba Jane, the walking
beauty shop.” (pg. 78) - “She spoke in a low snarl so only Ruby could hear.” (pg. 85)
- “…Y’all had a tornado go through here.” (pg. 74)
- “Love, your (tropical) grandmother, Miss Eula.” (pg. 65)
Comprehension Questions
- Ruby wants to tie Melba to an anthill to get her revenge. (pg. 50 )
- Ruby tells Melba that she is going to ignore her after remembering Miss Eula’s advice. (pg. 54)
- Ruby addresses Miss Eula by saying, “Well, Good Garden of Peas Miss Happiness,”. (pg. 58)
- Ruby says that she is a chicken thief, a housepainter, and a floor sweeper. (pg. 62)
- Ruby is going to Mr. Ishee’s house to have root-beer floats. (pg. 66)
- Uncle Tator and Aunt Tot are going to have a baby in October. (pg. 70)
- When she listens to Dove’s aunt and uncle Ruby remembers that her Grandpa and Miss Eula used to finish each others sentences. (pg. 75)
- Melba gives Dove a handmade coupon for a free shampoo and supper at her mother’s beauty salon. (pg. 78)
- Ruby says “It was an accident,” after Melba described what happened. (pg. 84)
- Ruby’s mom let her eat chocolate pudding for dinner after she rode home in the rain. (pg. 87)
- Dove says that Aunt Tot’s mashed potatoes “…look like glue and taste worse.” (pg. 96)
- Ruby’s mom was making loaves of fig bread to give away on June 25. (pg. 101)
Section 3: Chapters 13–19
Vocabulary
- curdled: to separate or cause to separate into lumps
- fiasco: something that is a complete failure
- hysterical: deriving from or affected by extreme emotion
- noggin: a person’s head
- tetanus: a disease that causes muscle spasms
- uniform: remaining the same in all cases at all times
- “Her voice curdled in her throat.” (pg. 123)
- “As it turns out, this fiasco comes on the heels of another equally incident,
in which Melba Jane Latham, daughter of Leila and the late Lionel
Latham, was doused with a can of peacock-blue paint after being scared
out of her wits by a chicken owned by Ruby Lavender.” (pg. 141) - “She was truly hysterical.” (pg. 105)
- “Mr. Popham said, ‘The only way to get that blue off her noggin is to soak
it in turpentine…” (pg. 117) - “…You won’t be any good to these chickens if you get tetanus.” (pg. 128)
- “Then they’re in uniforms, like the army, or a garage mechanic.” (pg. 115)
Comprehension Questions
- A can of paint falls on Melba’s head when she knocks over the ladder. (pg. 106)
- Ruby has leftover cornbread and buttermilk because her mom was gone for so long. (pg. 110)
- After saying that she likes her clothes, Dove says that they are all the same. (pg. 115)
- According to Ruby, Ivy’s clucks mean “Come on, you can do it.” (pg. 119)
- When Dove shines the light on the eggs she sees that they are broken. (pg. 123)
- Ruby says that she knows Melba threw the rock when her mom makes her come inside. (pg. 126)
- Miss Mattie finds 6 pink muumuus behind Miss Eula’s Door. (pg. 130)
- When the chick first appears from under Ivy she shakes, peeps three times, and then tries to take a step and stumbles. (pg. 136)
- Phoebe Tolbert was eating mint ice cream and watching television when she heard the crash. (pg. 140)
- “In the Sweet By and By” is ung at the funeral for the chicks. (pg. 142)
- In the July 7th letter, Ruby says that Dove is excited about wearing Miss Eula’s muumuus. (pg. 146)
- Ruby addresses Miss Eula at the top of her July 22nd letter by calling her “Miss Banana Split”. (pg. 150)
Section 4: Chapters 20–27
Vocabulary
- accolades: an award granted for a special accomplishment
- anthropology: the study of human societies and their development
- apologize: to express regret for something that one did wrong
- bravado: a bold manner intended to impress or intimidate
- cicada: a large insect with long transparent wings
- soliloquy: the act of speaking to oneself, usually in theatre
- “…Your public wants to bestow accolades upon you.” (pg. 184)
- “Anthropology.” (pg. 154)
- “I want to apologize.” (pg. 167)
- “Ruby realized with a crazy rush of bravado, that she was standing in
front of the entire town of Hallelujah, Mississippi, next to Melba Jane
Latham, who was practically bald and mute.” (pg. 178) - “The cicadas shrilled from the trees.” (pg. 157)
- “Melba began her soliloquy.” (pg. 175)
Comprehension Questions
- Dove tells Ruby that Melba Jane used to go stargazing with her father in the summers. (pg. 154)
- Ruby clips a bunch of black-eyed Susans with the scissors she got from the Pink Palace. (pg. 156)
- While standing on the bridge, Ruby says that she will never swim in the water below, again. (pg. 158)
- After she scratched the side of her face, Dove tells Ruby that she knows something that Ruby doesn’t. (pg. 161)
- Ruby’s tingles turn into pin-pricks of amazement. (pg. 163)
- Ruby stopped her tears from coming by clenching her teeth until her jaw hurt. (pg. 165)
- After Melba says that she wants to apologize to her, Ruby tells her that she wont let her. (pg. 167)
- Melba tells ruby that she wonders if her dad was awake the night he died, if he was scared, and if he was thinking about her. (pg. 169)
- The schoolhouse porch is decorated with Chock full’o Nuts coffee cans filled with geraniums. (pg. 174)
- Melba Jane was struggling to stay on stage while Mrs. Vernado was was waiting for her to start her soliloquy. (pg. 177)
- When she is walking home, Ruby remembers that Miss Eula told her that they will always be under the same sky. (pg. 184)
- Miss Eula says Miss Mattie is going to get a shipment of 400 flip-flops. (pg. 186)