Trouble With Half A Moon- Guiding Questions

1.      What happens in the first scene that we meet Dellie?- A gun shot is fired in her apartment complex and her father steps out of the apartment to check out what happened. (3)

2.      How does Dellie know it is her father at the door after he steps out to check out what happens? –He always knocks on the door the same way, “seven taps in a row”. (4)

3.      Who does Dellie meet the next day after the gun incident in her apartment complex? – Dellie meets Corey because he comes to knock on her door and asks for bread. (6)

4.      How old is Dellie?- She is 13 years old. (8)

5.      Who is Dellie’s best friend who walks with her to school every day?- Kayla who lives in the same apartment complex. (10)

6.      What is Shayna doing in homeroom and what does she say to Dellie that shows us she is not a very friendly classmate?- She is giving offering manicures and makes fun of Dellie that she will be charged more if she wanted the service. (11)

7.      Why does Kayla think that Michael, the boy in her math class likes Dellie? – Kayla thinks that Michael likes Dellie because he bought her a juice at school and always asks to borrow her pens. (13)

8.       Where do Dellie’s parents go to seek help in dealing with the loss of their son? – They go to see a therapist and Dellie does not go but she used to. (14)

9.      What happens to Dellie when she remembers about Louis and the accident that took his life? – She has panic attacks and nightmares about the accident. (14)

10.  What tradition does Dellie and her family have every Sunday?- They all have dinner together. (18)

11.  Why doesn’t Dellie’s mom let her out to play? – She is afraid that something will happen to Dellie like it did to her son Louis.

12.  What change happens in Dellie’s math class? – She gets a new math teacher, Mr. Dumbrewski.

13.  Dellie talks about her neighborhood and how her parents say it used to be different. What does she say changed since her parents moved in? – Dellie’s parents say that before, they did not have to worry about thieves or gunshots. (33)

14.  What do Dellie’s parents do for a living?- Her father drives a forklift and her mother works in a clothing factory packing up store orders. (33)

15.  What does Dellie reveal to the reader about Kayla and her past? – She tells the reader that Kayla and her mother used to be well off before her mother lost her job on Wall Street. When that happened, her mother sold their things and moved into the neighborhood. (33-34)

16.  How does Dellie embarrass Corey out in the courtyard of the apartment complex?- She offers him food and other children playing around him over hear. (35)

17.  What strange clothing item does Miss Shirley wear that makes her look like a “witch”? – Miss Shirley wears a cape.

18.  What does Corey’s mother confront Dellie about after school? (37-38) – She confronts her about feeding Corey. She does not want Dellie to do feed him because she thinks she is doing a good job of it and is not a neglectful parent.

19.  What happens to Dellie and her mother one day after coming home with a grocery cart? – Corey’s mother bursts out of her apartment with her boyfriend who is about to hit her. He does not luckily but the grocery cart falls over and a tomato spills out and gets smashed by Corey’s mother.

20.  What does Dellie do when Miss Shirley knocks on her door? –She does not open and just says hello through the door. (54)

21.  What changes between Kayla and Dellie? – Kayla is upset with Dellie because she thinks she told her secret about being wealthy before and that she is now poor.

22.  What makes Dellie forget about her troubles one rainy afternoon? – She gets to walk home with Michael and he makes plans with her to see her at her apartments. (63)

23.  What does Miss Shirley ask Dellie to do for her?- Dellie to do her shopping for her since she isn’t very mobile. (66)

24.  What does Dellie automatically like about Miss Shirley? – She likes the way she says “tings” instead of things. (65)

25.  What does Dellie see in Miss Shirley’s apartment that she thinks is weird? – She sees half a moon behind the kitchen table. Miss Shirley says that it represents faith. “Just because we cannot see this half of the moon doesn’t mean it’s not there,” (71).

26.  What happens at Miss Shirley’s apartment between her and Dellie that makes her run out? – Dellie starts to think about Louis because of the apartment and Miss Shirley asks her if she has any siblings. (72-73)

27.  Dellie’s mother was upset one night after seeing their counselor and did not sleep. The next day she lets Dellie stay home from school. What makes Dellie’s mother want to keep her home? – Dellie’s mother is sad remembering Louis and wants to keep Dellie home where she knows she will be safe. (80)

28.  What happens to Corey the day Dellie stays home from school with her mom? – Corey is found by Dellie outside of his apartment with bruises and a welt. He was hurt by his mother for not obeying her. (81)

29.  What threat does Corey’s mother make after Dellie finds him sitting outside of his apartment as she and her friends are leaving? – She tells him that he has to wait inside and he better not let anyone else in or he will get hurt again. (82)

30.  Corey tells Dellie about who made the bullet hole that day in the beginning of the novel when Dellie woke to a gun going off. Who does he say did it?- Corey says that it was his mother’s friend, Kendal who shot off the gun trying to scare someone else. (83)

31.  What happens when Dellie goes into Corey’s apartment with him even though they had been warned what would happen if they were caught? – Corey’s mother comes back to look for a phone. Dellie quickly hides in the bathroom and Corey finds the phone quickly to get them out of the apartment. (86-87)

32.  What happens when Corey and Dellie make it out of Corey’s apartment and go up to Dellie’s apartment?- Corey knocks down the picture of Louis and breaks a piece of the frame. He cuts his finger when he tries to pick it up and Dellie takes him to the bathroom to clean his cut. However, her mother comes out when she hears all of the commotion and meets Corey. (91-92)

33.  What does Dellie think happened to welt that was on Corey’s leg that disappeared when her mother was helping Corey with his cuts? –She thinks that it might have disappeared when Miss Shirley touched his leg on their way up to her apartment. (92)

34.  Dellie’s mother and father let her finally go out on her own on Corey’s birthday. Where does Dellie want to go? –She wants to go to the store and pick out a birthday gift for Corey. (98)

35.  What confrontation does Dellie get into on her way out to the store?- She walks by Kayla and Kayla tells her why they are no longer friends. Kayla thinks that Dellie told everyone about her family being wealthy but now poor when she really did not. When Miss Shirley tries to make them work out their problems, Kayla calls Dellie crazy and says that she pushed her brother into the street to get killed.  (99-101)

36.  Where does Dellie go after her confrontation with Kayla? – She goes to a playground where she sees Kayla and Bryan smoking a cigarette. When Bryan and Kayla see Dellie, Kayla tries to leave and Bryan makes fun of Dellie’s large coat and that she is wanting to be kissed by Bryan. She “burns” him with a comeback and makes Bryan very mad. (104-105)

37.  What happens to Dellie after she leaves the park? She goes to the store and finds Kayla and Bryan both there. Bryan keeps bumping in to Dellie on purpose to slip things into her oversized coat pockets and frame her for stealing items. When Dellie is caught at the checkout line, she is embarrassed and told to not return. (106-111)

38.  What happens to Dellie when she gets home after the commotion at the store with Kayla and Bryan? – Dellies mother knows because her friend, Carmen had called and said that Dellie was caught stealing. Even though Dellie clears things up with her parents, her mother insists they go back to the store with Kayla as a witness to clear Dellie’s name. However, when they both go up to see if Kayla can come clear her name, her mother intervenes and says that Kayla has no boyfriend and that she would never not speak up for someone if she witnessed them getting in trouble when they don’t deserve it. (112-120)

39.  What also happens to Dellie on her way with her mother to Kayla’s apartment? – Miss Shirley stops and asks Dellie’s mother if Dellie could run out and get groceries for her on a regular basis. With some hesitation, Dellie’s mother agrees. (1160

40.  When Dellie and her mother get back to their apartment after the incident with Kayla and her mother, who do they find at their apartment? – They find Corey who is excited it is his birthday. Dellie’s parents, her and Corey celebrate with cupcakes and presents. (120-121)

41.  What happens to Dellie in her math class after Corey’s birthday? – Dellie is being called a thief by Shayna, Alexa and Rihanna. However, Mr. Dubrewski calls the girls out and says that they should not spread ugly rumors about their classmates and that those who do will go see the principal.

42.  After an awful day at school where girls were calling her a thief, Dellie comes home to find Corey being dragged by his mother again. What happens? – Corey’s mother yells at Dellie to mind her own business and she flings Corey into their apartment. Dellie can hear Corey getting hurt and telling his mother to please stop. Dellie also tries to kick the door in and get the attention of the neighbors who call the police. Miss Shirley comforts Dellie before her parents get an explanation of what happens. (123-127)

43.  Dellie has tea with Miss Shirley after the incident and confesses to her how Louis died. What does she tell her?- She tells Miss Shirley that her and Louis were out playing and that Dellie was pushing Louis on his bike. As they were going fast, the crossed a street and Dellie had lost Corey when a car hit him on his bike. (129)

44.  Corey returns with a stranger to his mother and the apartment complex. Who is this stranger to Dellie?- Corey is returned by Sandra Cumberland, the social worker who took Corey away and tells Dellie that Corey had a lot to say about her. Dellie also thinks that Corey’s mother is changing when she sees her cook for her and is nice to her.  (136)

45.  What happens when Dellie has to go down to the store and buy items for Miss Shirley?- She notices a new pink flower on her brother’s shrine. Then Dellie hears Miss Shirley’s voice call out to her and before she knows it, her bags fall to the ground and she steps off the cub to pull back on someone who was about to walk out into the busy street without being safe. She finds that the person she pulls back is Corey and saves his life. (140-144)

46.  What was strange about Dellie saving Corey?- Dellie says that she heard a voice call out to her and that the voice was Miss Shirley. But Miss Shirley says that she didn’t and that the first time she spoke was to the driver.

47.  What is another strange thing that Dellie experiences when she goes to Miss Shirley’s apartment after the almost accident? – Dellie sees a vase full of pink flowers and Miss Shirley. Dellie then asks Miss Shirley if she had put one on Louis’s shrine and she says that she did not and the only pink flowers she’s seen today were the ones on her table. (147)

48.  What does Corey’s mother say to Dellie after the almost accident? – She thanks Dellie for saving 
Corey. ( 148)

49.  Dellie gets a note from her parents saying that she is walking to school on her own and that they are all going out to dinner together later. This note brings her joy and so does another note in this chapter. Who writes her a note in school and makes her very happy? – Michael writes her a note during math class and asks her to walk with him after school. He says he has something to ask her. (152)

50.  After the math lesson and reading Michael’s note, Dellie is asked a questions by Michael. What does he ask her?- Michael asks Dellie if she wants to be his girlfriend. She says yes. (156)

51.  After Dellie’s exciting day at school. What happens over the weekend at Dellie’s apartment. – Corey shows up one morning and says that his mother has left him behind because she says that he is too much work for her. But, that her boyfriend had also hurt him one last time before he left. (158)

52.  Why doesn’t Corey want to eat the blueberry pancakes that Corey’s mom makes him?-He doesn’t want to eat them because he has had bad experience eating food that was blue because it was probably moldy and made him sick. (159)

53.  Who does Dellie call when Corey says that his mother has abandoned him?- Dellie calls Miss Sandra, the social worker that was helping Corey. (161)

54.  What happens when Miss Sandra gets to the apartment and tries to help Corey? – Miss Sandra says that Corey can go back to living with a foster family who also has a child Corey’s age named, Jayden, who is also whom with Corey stayed with when he was first taken from his mother. Miss Sandra says that he will be fine and well taken care of until she can find a relative of Corey’s for him to live with. (166-167)

55.  What does Dellie’s mother give Corey before he leaves to keep? – She gives him Connie boy to keep. (170)

56.  When do Dellie and Kayla fix their problems? – They start talking when Miss Shirley has them both over her apartment. Dellie went there to ask if she needed anything and Kayla happened to walk by and get invited in. They apologize to one another and become friends again. (174-175)

57.  Miss Shirley reveals that her sister had died in an accident as well. What does she tell Dellie and Kayla?- She tells them that her sister died in a fire accident and that she was left trapped in the house while Miss Shirley survived and had to jump out of the building causing her injury with her leg.

58.  What does the half moon represent on Miss Shirley’s wall and why does Dellie see a full moon at the end of the novel? – The half moon symbolizes faith. Just because you can’t see one half of it, it does not mean it’s not there. In the end, Dellie see’s the full moon. (179)