1. Inferencing

2.  What can you infer about this boy from the fact that he prefers the name Bud to Buddy?  Does this caseworker know Bud or Jerry well? What information in the text helps you make your inference?

3.  Are Bud and Jerry happy to have new homes?  What does Christopher Paul Curtis write that tells you how they feel?

4. Why do you think Jerry and Bud know how to finish the caseworkers sentence?

5.  Was there ever a time when Bud would cry tears?  Which specific sentence in this paragraph gives you the answer?

6.  Do you think that Bud really would trade places with Jerry?  What can you tell about Bud’s personality from his conversation with Jerry?

7.  What did the first foster home teach Bud?  Bud spends a lot of time describing an ordinary experience-losing baby teeth. What else do you learn about Bud as you read this section?

8. 1. List the reasons why age six was a tough age for Bud. 2. Which reason does he say least about? 3. What does this help you infer about him?