Chapters 1-8

Reading Check

1. Caitlin runs her fingers along the underside of Mrs. Brook’s desk and gets a splinter in her finger. She bleeds profusely and panics at the sight of blood. (Chapter 3)

2. The heart (Chapter 7)

3. Caitlin names her dictionary, the television, and her computer. (Chapter 7)

Short-Answer Response

1. Literally, the gray is the weather outside, but the gray that Caitlin feels inside refers more to her grief over her brother’s death and her uncertainty about how to handle it. (Chapter 1)

2.Caitlin is referring to Devon’s cremation; she understands that although his body is gone his ashes might still be floating about in the air. Her answer, however, reflects her unwillingness to let go of her brother. (Chapter 3)

3. Caitlin doesn’t understand the teacher’s remark that she “wants” Caitlin to work with a group; she takes it as a simple statement about the teacher’s feelings rather than a request, and she sees no reason why it should matter more than her own feelings. More broadly, she’s uncomfortable working with other students, partly because they’ve told her to leave them alone in the past. (Chapter 7)

4. Caitlin’s father cannot control his sadness and his sense of loss. Unable to understand the depth of his heartache (he has lost his young wife and now his only son), Caitlin often inadvertently makes comments that trigger intense grief.