Boy21

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Preface-Chapter 8

Reading Check

1. What lesson does Finley learn at a very early age?

2. What is Dad’s motto?

3. Who is Erin?

4. According to Finley and Coach, what factor changes the way a basketball team plays the game?

5. Who is Boy21?

6. Which figure is depicted in pictures all around the Allens’ family home?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Describe Finley’s preferred earliest memory. What is he doing? Who is with him in this memory?

2. What is Finley’s nickname? Summarize why his peers call him this name.

3. Who is Rod? Why is it beneficial to be under Rod’s protection?

4. Describe the secret that Coach reveals to Finley. Why does he choose to tell Finley this information?

5. Based on the photos in the Allens’ home, what information does Finley surmise about Boy21 before he meets him? What two pieces of information about Boy21 stand out to Finley?

Paired Resource

“The Irish Mob in Boston”

• A brief overview from Boston University of the Irish mob in the Greater Boston area
• According to Finley, in what ways is Bellmont is controlled by the Irish Mob?

Chapters 9-17

Reading Check

1. Which famous basketball player does Finley compare Boy21’s body to?

2. According to Finley, which group runs Bellmont?

3. What does Boy21 say that Finley has in Chapter 10?

4. What name does Boy21 agree to go by in school? What nickname do his new classmates give him?

5. What does Russ bring Finley for his own birthday?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Boy21 describe himself to Finley? What is Finley’s reaction?

2. Why is Finley conflicted about Boy21?

3. Describe in which ways that Coach intervened on Russ’s behalf. According to Finley, what does this reveal about Coach’s status?

4. Where do Finley and Russ go in Chapter 15? Describe what happens at the event.

5. On Russ’s birthday, he reveals his past to Finley for the first time. Summarize the story that he shares. What connection does Finley make between Russ’s story and the event from Chapter 15?

Paired Resource

“What’s the Link Between Trauma and Dissociation?”

• A 2021 article on Psychcentral.com about how traumatic events may cause individuals to dissociate from reality.
• In what ways is Russ dissociating from reality? Why is he doing this?

Chapters 18-25

Reading Check

1. What does Coach ask Finley to do for him in Chapter 18?

2. According to Finley, what is the informal seating arrangement for Bellmont citizens?

3. What does Pop clutch in his hand when Finley and Erin return home from Thanksgiving at the Quinns’?

4. According to Erin, what keeps people stuck in Bellmont?

5. Which book is Wes really reading?

6. What leadership opportunity does Coach award Finley?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Describe Finley and Erin’s arrangement during every basketball season. What does Erin want to do differently this year?

2. Summarize the first practice for the Belmont High School basketball team. What unusual event happens with Coach? Explain why.

3. What is the difficult decision that Finley must make in Chapter 21? What does he decide to do?

4. Wes, Russ, and Finley begin to form a bond. Describe what item forges this bond and what the trio plans to do together. How does Finley feel about this?

5. The night before the game against Pennsville, Russ asks Finley if he can do something special during the game. What does he ask and how does Finley respond?

Chapters 26-32

Reading Check

1. Why did Erin change the number on her jersey?

2. What trait does Mike say that Finley has?

3. What does Russ decide about his name in Chapter 28?

4. Why is Erin in the hospital?

5. How does Finley know that his dad supports his decision to see Erin?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Describe how Finley feels during the basketball game against Pennsville.

2. How has the power dynamic shifted between Finley and Russ? At what point does this shift occur?

3. What do Wes, Finley, and Boy21 listen to in Boy21’s room? What does Finley realize about the meaning of the lyrics?

4. What are some of the suspicions concerning Erin’s accident? Describe how Finley’s companions respond to the suspicions.

5. What does Finley decide to do during the basketball game in Chapter 32? What are the consequences of this choice?

Paired Resource

The Role of High School Counselors in Students’ Lives

• A 2020 U.S. News & World Report article on the variety of functions of a high school counselor.
• Does Mr. Gore’s counseling style fit into the article’s description of this role? Why or why not?

Chapters 33-40

Reading Check

1. Why does Pop give Finley two dollars?

2. How does Russ try to surprise Finley?

3. What happens to Erin’s home?

4. What does Finley spend his days doing in Chapter 36?

5. What is the outcome of the basketball state championship?

6. Why does stargazing help Russ?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What happens when Finley and Dad try to visit Erin in the hospital?

2. Describe the events surrounding Finley’s visit to the Irish Pride Pub. What is Finley’s motivation to go there and what is the outcome?

3. Describe the major transformations in Russ’s life. What does Finley attribute these changes to?

4. Where does Russ take Finley for a surprise trip? Summarize what the boys share with each other.

5. Describe what happens in Chapter 40. What is the choice that Finley must make? How does he ultimately feel about this decision?

Recommended Next Reads 

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

• A 2008 novel by the same author on dealing with family trauma
• Silver Linings Playbook on SuperSummary

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

• A 2013 novel by the same author about a high school boy planning an act of violence
• Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock on SuperSummary