Summer of the Monkeys — Chapter 17

About This Passage

Rawls writes this joyful paragraph on purpose to make us feel Jay Berry's happiness at its very highest — before Jay Berry's heart will change and he will turn around and walk back the other way. The words 'happier' and 'dreams' and 'home' are chosen to lift the reader up, so that a young student can feel how far Jay Berry has to fall when he realizes what the pony's crippled leg really means.

Narration Prompt

Tell the story of Chapter 17 in four parts. First, tell how Jay Berry ran to Grandpa's store and found two ponies — the roan and the paint — in the barn lot. Second, tell how he chose the crippled paint pony anyway because she pushed her head against him. Third, tell what he saw on his walk home that made him turn around and take the pony back. Fourth, tell what he gave to Mama instead, and what Papa did that had never happened before.

Discussion Questions

1. What in the story tells you that Grandpa had been hoping all along that Jay Berry would choose something more important than a pony for himself?
2. What in the story tells you that Jay Berry loves his little sister more than he loves the pony he has wanted all summer?

+ 2 more questions in the complete study guide