Hoot Ch. 14+15

Hoot Ch. 14+15

By Mallorie Spielmaker

​ Roy bikes to Beatrice's house so they can swap info on the night before but she says it's not a good time. Roy heads over to Dana's house instead. He tries to talk some sense into Dana and get him to stop the bullying. But Dana's not smart enough to see how beating up on Roy always ends badly for Dana.

Next Roy goes to the junkyard to check on Mullet Fingers. They talk about the owls and Roy tells Mullet Fingers that if Mother Paula's has the proper paperwork, they can't do anything to stop construction. He tells Roy how he's been watching his home disappear to bulldozers and construction and that they need to fight back. He goes on to say how Beatrice wrote to Mother Paula’s telling them about the owls but all they got back was an impersonal standard letter. Mullet Fingers then tells Roy he wants to show him something and to follow him.

​impersonal: not caring about a person's feelings

Multiple Choice

What is the definition of "Impersonal"?

• Caring about a person's feelings

• Not caring about a person's feelings

Multiple Choice

Roy says that with proper paperwork, Mother Paula's can still build. True or False?

• True

• False

​ The two arrive at an old shipwrecked stone-crab boat. Roy loves it here. They talk about Mullet Fingers’ strained relationship with his mom, and how he's never met or seen his father. All of a sudden Roy notices something happening in the water and Mullet Fingers becomes super excited. Mullet Fingers has Roy hold onto his ankles while he stretches out over the water and retrieves "a bright blunt-headed fish that sparkled like liquid chrome". It's a mullet.  Returning back to shore, Roy asks Mullet Fingers what he has planned for the construction site later that night. If you want to talk the talk, you gotta walk the walk.  Mullet Fingers tells him that the only way to find out is to show up.

​retrieves: get something back

Poll

Do you think Roy and Mullet Fingers are becoming friends?

• Yes

• No

• Maybe

Multiple Choice

What is the definition of "retrieves"?

• Get something back

• Give something away

Multiple Choice

What did Mullet Fingers catch?

• A snake

• A mullet fish

Roy is hesitant about getting involved in illegal activities like vandalism. He tells his mom that he's going on another bike ride. This time, he returns to Dana Matherson's house. Sneaking up to the house, Roy glances into the windows until he sees the room Dana is in. Roy taps on the window to get Dana's attention and then proceeds to moon him. His stunt works exactly as planned and Dana comes after him. Roy wants to make sure Dana chases after him the entire time so he paces himself knowing that Dana will be lagging behind. When Dana "catches up", Roy gives a fake performance of being caught and offers to show him a secret stash of cigarettes in return for letting him go. Dana takes the bait and Roy tells him he'll find the cigarettes in a trailer on the corner of East Oriole and Woodbury; the Mother Paula's construction site.​

​hesitant: unsure

Multiple Choice

What is the definition of "unsure"?

• Unsure

• Positive

Multiple Choice

What does Dana do to Roy when he sees him?

• Smiles at him

• Moons him

Multiple Choice

Roy told Dana he would give him ________ if he let him go.

• Cigarettes

• Dinner

Multiple Choice

Where did Roy tell Dana the cigarettes were?

• Mullet Finger's house

• Mother Paula's Construction Site

Curly is spending the night at the construction site again. But this time the lot looks completely vacant since his truck isn't there to warn intruders of his presence. Curly secures himself in his trailer which he surrounded with rat traps. After a short nap, Curly wakes up to the sound of rat traps going off. Curly arms himself with his gun and surprises his guest by knocking him to the ground. He realizes that this is just a kid and asks the boy's name. The kid replies, "Roy. Roy Eberhardt". Curly thinks this is the same kid who has been trespassing and vandalizing the construction site. He tries to help the kid off the ground but he yanks Curly down instead and tries to run off with a rat trap on each foot. ​

​vacant: empty

Multiple Choice

Define "vacant"

• Empty

• Full

Multiple Choice

Who does Dana tell Curly he is?

• Beatrice Leep

• Mullet Fingers

• Roy Eberhardt

Officer Delinko is drives past the construction site again when he sees a boy in the middle of the road. As Delinko drives closer he sees there is something on the boy's feet and Delinko gets out of his car to investigate. The boy starts walking away from Delinko. But the policeman won't have any of that and gets the boy in the back of his patrol car. Curly has finally caught up with the boy and is happy to see him in Delinko's custody. Curly exclaims that Delinko has the construction site vandal—which makes Delinko beyond ecstatic. Then Curly tells the officer that the boy's name is Roy Eberhardt. Since Delinko's met Roy on multiple occasions, he knows that this kid is not who he says he is. The police officer needs to get to the bottom of this so he heads down to the station with Curly and the fake Roy in tow.

 ​

​ecstatic: extremely excited

Multiple Choice

Define "ecstatic"

• Really say

• Extremely excited

Multiple Choice

Is Dana really the one vandalizing the construction site?

• Yes

• No

Open Ended

How does Officer Delinko know that Dana's real name isn't Roy?