1.  How did you feel when you found out what happened to Edgar Allan?

2.  Who do you think made this decision and why? Did you think it was the

    right decision? Explain.

3.  Why do you think Mrs. Fickett told the children that Edgar Allan’s  parents  were found?

4.  What did Michael mean when he said, "Everyone….felt shorter that night than when we started out in the morning"?

5.  How did Mr. and Mrs. Fickett act toward one another after Edgar Allan was gone? Why did they behave this way?

6.  Who was Joe Ryder? What did he want to learn from the Fickett children? Why do you think he didn’t talk with their parents? Do you think he went too far?

7.  What did Ryder say to Sally Ann that got her so upset? Why was she now worried about her own future? Why did Sally Ann decide to run away from home?

8.  Why did Michalel think his mother was disappointed in him?

9.  What does Mrs. Fickett mean when she says, "It will take a lot of time for people not to see the black outside before they see the person inside?

10.  Why did Michael discontinue his walks with his father after Edgar Allan was sent away?

11.  Why did Michael no longer feel he could count on his father?

12.  Why did Mrs. Fickett say to Michael, "None of us can afford to judge the other too harshly"? What was she really asking Michael to do?

13.  Do you think Michael was too harsh a judge? Explain.

14.  If Mr. Fickett could relive the events of the immediate past, what do you think he would do differently?

15.  Why do you think Michael finally forgave his father.

16.  One kind of irony in a novel is an outcome of events that is opposite to what was expected. Explain what was ironic about the congregation’s reaction to Edgar Allan’s departure.