The Red Umbrella

Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. Manuel (Chapter 1)

Short Answer

1. She thinks her mother wants to tell her that she will have to babysit Frankie. (Chapter 2)

2. They are afraid they will get into trouble for going out, because Sonia told them to stay inside. (Chapter 3)

Chapters 5-8

Reading Check

1. She wants Lucia to pick up medicine for Frankie’s fever. (Chapter 6)

Short Answer

1. Lucia sees her father pry up a floor tile and hide their family’s savings under it. (Chapter 5)

2. Ivette wants Lucia to borrow some of her mother’s jewelry for the dance. (Chapter 8)

Chapters 9-12

Reading Check

1. her diamond earrings (Chapter 12)

Short Answer

1. He tells her that “you’ve just got to say what they want to hear” (106). (Chapter 10)

2. She thinks that Ivette must have betrayed her by telling the secret about the valuables under the floor. (Chapter 11)

Chapters 13-16

Reading Check

1. a red umbrella (Chapter 15)

Short Answer

1. The soldiers have taken the family’s savings and Lucia’s father has lost his job. (Chapter 13)

2. They have decided to send Frankie and Lucia to the US. (Chapter 14)

Chapters 17-20

Reading Check

1. Angela (Chapter 17)

Short Answer

1. The entire day is broken up into strictly regimented routines, and she has no privacy. (Chapter 18)

2. Back in Cuba, their father was very helpful to Mr. Alvarez and his family, doing things like buying medicine for one of Mr. Alvarez’s children. (Chapter 19)

Chapters 21-24

Reading Check

1. mud (Chapter 23)

Short Answer

1. Students might mention any three of the following details: she has to wear second-hand clothes, the food is unfamiliar, she cannot call her parents, she and Frankie must get up early to do chores, they must maintain a strict schedule, and the house is surrounded by bare cornfields. (Chapter 21)

2. Mrs. Baxter gives Lucia Tabasco sauce at breakfast because she assumes that Cubans like spicy food the same way many Mexicans do. (Chapter 22)

Chapters 25-29

Reading Check

1. Honors Algebra II (Chapter 26)

Short Answer

1. She reads the newspaper and realizes how much freedom of speech Americans have. (Chapter 25)

2. Jennifer thinks Betty is jealous of the attention Lucia gets from older boys. (Chapter 28)

Chapters 30-33

Reading Check

1. a phone call to their parents (Chapter 31)

Short Answer

1. She explains to him that Santa will know that he is in the U.S. and will bring his presents to him in Nebraska. (Chapter 30)

2. Lucia’s father has been badly injured in a fall from a roof and is still in the hospital. (Chapter 32)

Chapters 34-37

Reading Check

1. Lucia and Frankie’s father/ Papa (Chapter 37)

Short Answer

1. Because some herons migrate past both Cuba and Nebraska, the bird is symbolic of Lucia’s own experience. (Chapter 34)

2. Lucia’s mother has been granted a visa, but her father has not been granted one. (Chapter 36)