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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 80 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
Special Topics
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Creech, Sharon
Mr. Bonner. Signora Palermo went up the mountain with everyone except Dinnie. Mr. Bonner, who, like Dinnie, was only a beginner, sat with her in the cafe. They, therefore, saw the entire avalanche from far below.
White. Aunt Sandy, Uncle Max and Dinnie lived in a white chalet with a red roof.
The Ticino. There are different sections of Switzerland. The section that Lugano is in is in a Italian-speaking section, near the border. It's called the Ticino.
Help yourself. Dinnie wants to put a sign in her window that says 'Help' or 'Taken by force'. 'Servitevi' is one of her attempts. Guthrie tries to be helpful, but his suggestions are the Italian for 'haircut' and 'turnip', or 'blockhead'.
Manuel. Belen likes Keisuke, who is Japanese, but unfortnately her parents are not open-minded and want for her 'a nice Spanish boy'. Gherardo, Pablo, and Manuel are examples. Fadi is Mari's boyfriend.
Ten-thirty. Lights-out were tecnically at ten-thirty, but Belen and Mari shoved a towel at the crack under the door so that it would look like lights were out, and kept talking.
St. Abbondio. Lugano is a real place. Mt. San Salvatore and its funicolare are really there, and Montagnola is a real village. St. Abbondio is therefore a real church.
Muffled drums. 'And then we heard it. It was an odd sound, like muffled drums far off.'
Mari. 'I was rooming with Belen and another girl, Mari. Lila's name was also on the roster for our room, but none of us expected her to show up. 'Too bad,' said Mari. 'I was looking forward to a good dose of complaining.'
Walnut Tree Cottage. At first the group had trouble finding it because there were no house numbers in Bompie's village. Then they started looking for a walnut tree in front yards, but didn't see any. Finally Cody went up and knocked on someone's door and was pointed across the way.
Little Peep. Cody picks it up and says, "It's a cute little peep, isn't it?" and the name stuck. After resting for a few days, Little Peep flew off.
Storm clouds. Sophie says, "We felt stupid to think that we'd been blowing our horn at rain clouds and trying to call them on the radio."
Seals. This is when Sophie learns that Uncle Mo makes his living as a "number cruncher," even though he'd like to be an artist. Sophie thinks it's a complete waste that people get jobs they hate.
Wood Island. They didn't tell anyone, and when they got back all the uncles were really mad. Cody and Sophie left a note, but the uncles talked to a fisherman who was on the island all day and he said he hadn't seen hide or hair of them.
Moses, Jonah, and Stuart. Uncle Dock's name is Jonah, but he a sailor told him it was bad luck to be around boats with that name. Since he hung around the docks all the time, the sailors nicknamed him "Dock." Uncle Mo was teased because of his name when he was a child, so he shorted his name to "Mo" because it sounded more "butch." Uncle Stuart stews and worries so much that everyone calls him Stew.
Dolphin darlings. Sophie's surprsed that Cody calls them "dolphin darlings" when he's such a "hunk." Brian is the one who couldn't care less about them.
Cat feet. Uncle Dock recites a poem about "cat's feet in the fog," and from then on that's what Sophie sees, too.
Points of sail. Most of the crew knows about points of sail, but Brian can't think of anything else to teach. Sophie teaches Bompie's stories, and everyone wonders how she learned them when she never met Bompie. Turns out he sent them to her in letters after she was first adopted. "Mike-Oscar" (Uncle Mo) teaches radio code. "Charlie-Oscar" (Cody) is pleased when he memorizes the complete code faster than "Bravo-Romeo" (Brian). Uncle Dock teaches reading charts, and Uncle Stew teaches how to use the sextant.
45 feet. Uncle Dock says it's a "pretty big baby," but once they go out to sea they all think it feels a lot smaller.
Chicory. When Ben was little, he asked Aunt Jessie how to grow "the other kind of beans," meaning human "beans." For a project for school he decided to see what, if anything, would grow from chicken eggs. To humor him, Zinny's dad planted chicory in the same place, and Ben believed that the CHICory had grown from the CHICKen eggs.
In the mayor of Chocton's garden. To end the trail, Zinny has to dig up some of the mayor's prize-winning lavender border. At first the mayor is not too happy, but when she tells him it's a historic trail, he perks up a bit.
Things that belonged to Rose and Aunt Jessie. When she looks in the window the first time, Zinny is shocked to see Aunt Jessie's slippers and coat. Later, when Uncle Nate feels faint and Jake kicks open the cabin door, Zinny also finds all of Rose's things, and a lot of Aunt Jessie's.
After climbing a tree to escape a bear and becoming lost. "Aunt Jessie" leads Zinny to a clearing far from the bear, and within a short walk from her campsite.
A crop duster. At first Zinny is annoyed that her father wants to see how she's doing, but then she realizes he's just doing it because he cares about her.
A wooden one. When Bonnie first tells Zinny Jake brought her a horse, Zinny praises Jake to death in her mind. When she finds it is a wooden one, however, she curses him.
Louanne. Mrs. Boone comes to ask if Jake had given her grandmother's diamond-and-ruby engagement ring to either Zinny or May. Zinny's mom says, "Sit yourself down, Louanne. You look frazzled."
Himself. When he finally shows his "proof" picture, no one knows what to think, as it is a picture of Uncle Nate himself. But he says, "Dag-blast, SHE took the picture." No one quite knows what to say after that.
Stupid worm. When Jake grabs her arm, Zinny punches him and calls him a "stupid worm." In her own words, it is "not exactly the height of sophistication." Jake shoves a small box at her and stomps off.
The boogie-woogie. Whenever Uncle Nate was leaving the house he'd call out, "Tootle-ee-ah-da!" And Aunt Jessie would reply, "Make the company jump!"
Butlers. The first time Jake brought Zinny Bingo, it was because he chased his car. When Bingo later "got loose," however, he sneaked Bingo into his truck.
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