Stepping on the Cracks

Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.

Chapters 1-5

Reading Check

1. Who is Margaret and Elizabeth’s long-standing enemy in town?

2. What nicknames does Gordy call Elizabeth and Margaret?

3. Why doesn’t Margaret want a gold star in their window?

4. What happened to Barbara’s husband, Butch?

Multiple Choice

1. Based on Margaret’s words and actions, which set of character traits best describes her?

A) outgoing and strong

B) brave and sassy

C) shy and fearful

D) calm and organized

2. Why does Margaret think that going to war must not be too bad?

A) The soldiers waving from the trains all seem happy.

B) Jimmy’s letters home are lighthearted and funny.

C) Soldiers do not see a lot of combat.

D) The news about the war is always positive.

3. To whom does Elizabeth angrily compare Gordy when he busts up their treehouse?

A) a crazy man

B) Doug and Toad

C) Atilla the Hun

D) a Nazi

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What are the girls’ thoughts and opinions about the war?

2. How does Margaret feel that the war has changed her mother? Her father? Why does she think her parents act the way they do now?

3. Why does Elizabeth mock Margaret? How does this make Margaret feel?

Chapters 6-10

Reading Check

1. What does Mrs. Wagner tell her students that she does not want in her classroom? 

2. What do Elizabeth and Margaret do to get revenge on Gordy for damaging their tree house?

3. Who is really the “crazy man” hiding in the woods?

Multiple Choice

1. What is Margaret’s mother’s opinion of Elizabeth?

A) Elizabeth is a bully.

B) Elizabeth is a supportive friend.

C) Elizabeth does not spend enough time on her chores.

D) Elizabeth is more ladylike than Margaret.

2. What does Margaret want to do immediately after finding Stuart?

A) help Gordy convince Stuart to return to the army

B) get Stuart to the hospital

C) tell her father and have Stuart arrested

D) run home in fear

3. What positive quality does Margaret sometimes feel herself to possess thanks to her friendship with Elizabeth?

A) creativity, because Elizabeth teaches her to dance

B) bravery, when she follows Elizabeth’s lead

C) superiority, because she is smarter than Elizabeth

D) beauty, since they have the same kind of shoes

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Margaret afraid of being called a coward?

2. Margaret and Elizabeth have been friends since they were little. What different roles does each one play in their friendship?

3. What makes Margaret begin to question whether Stuart’s desertion is such a bad thing? How does her new uncertainty make her feel?

4. Why did Jimmy nickname Stuart “the Little Poet”? How does Jimmy’s opinion of Stuart influence Margaret’s thinking?

Chapters 11-15

Reading Check

1. How does Elizabeth initially feel about Stuart?

2. Why do Gordy and the girls worry about Stuart?

3. What does Margaret bravely offer to do to help Stuart?

Multiple Choice

1. Based on what Margaret and Elizabeth witness at Gordy’s house when they check on Gordy after school, what can you infer about Gordy’s father?

A) He loves his family.

B) He is hardworking.

C) He is abusive.

D) He has a lot of angry friends.

2. How does Mother react when Margaret tells her about Gordy’s family?

A) She invites Gordy’s family to dinner.

B) She thinks Margaret is lying.

C) She does not want to get involved.

D) She asks Margaret to tell her father.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why did Stuart desert the Army?

2. Why does Elizabeth change her mind about Stuart?

3. Why does Gordy assert that Stuart is not a coward, even though he refuses to go to war?

Chapters 16-21

Reading Check

1. Which famous poem does Stuart quote to help the girls understand his position of nonviolence?

2. Whom do the girls take into their confidence about Stuart?

3. Where does Stuart go to recover from his pneumonia?

Multiple Choice

1. After Gordy spends the night away from home, how does Mr. Smith react when he finds Gordy?

A) He takes Gordy to the doctor.

B) He leaves Gordy behind in the snow.

C) He tearfully asks why Gordy did not come home.

D) He punches Gordy and knocks him down.

2. What does Margaret’s mother believe about the war?

A) The war is inconvenient but will be over soon.

B) It is every man’s duty to serve his country.

C) The war is a mistake and should never have happened.

D) No one should be forced to serve in the military.

3. How does Margaret feel about Gordy after they rescue Stuart?

A) She is no longer afraid of him.

B) She thinks he has become a kinder, gentler person.

C) She wishes they were better friends.

D) She admires his strong willpower.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Elizabeth admires the medals that Butch won. How does Barbara feel about his medals? Why does she feel that way?

2. How do Margaret’s beliefs about the war now differ from Elizabeth’s beliefs? What does this reflect about Margaret’s character?

3. Why is Elizabeth surprised by the opinions Donald expresses about the war in his letter to Stuart? Does his viewpoint change Elizabeth’s opinion?

Chapters 22-28

Reading Check

1. Whom do Margaret and Mother meet in the woods while cutting down a Christmas tree?

2. What happens to Jimmy?

3. Why does Stuart go home?

4. After Mr. Smith is arrested, what happens to Gordy and the rest of his family?

Multiple Choice

1. In what way does Stuart both show his bravery and stand up for his principles?

A) He willingly returns to the army.

B) He protects his family without using violence.

C) He accepts a job with Mr. Fisher’s company.

D) He teaches Gordy to defend himself verbally.

2. What does Margaret mean when she says that she feels that cracks are “opening everywhere” around her?

A) Things she once thought were simple are more complicated than she thought.

B) The war is causing people to act strangely.

C) She feels broken inside.

D) The sidewalk game she plays is too realistic.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Even though Mother witnesses the conditions at the Smith’s house, why does she refrain from calling the police? How does this affect Margaret?

2. How do Margaret’s and her mother’s opinions of Stuart differ? How does this difference reveal Margaret’s growing independence?

3. Why do you think that Mrs. Smith is reluctant to admit the abuse in her family?

4. How have Margaret’s and Elizabeth’s feelings about Gordy changed from the start of the novel?