TITLE: Ape Ears And Beaky GRADE LEVEL: 5-6 AUTHOR: Nancy J. Hooper THEMES: Conflict-escalation, self-esteem, weighing alternatives, nonviolent, alternatives SYNOPSIS: Scott Pritchard has a hard time controlling his temper. He has been kicked off one baseball team, suspended from another, and now is going to a counselor. He gets involved in watching a burglary ring with Beaky Norton late one night. Throughout the book, Scott's counselor asks him to think of what makes him fight. He comes up with a number of reasons, none of which have anything to do with the fact that he has a hard time thinking through his problems. Scott, in fact, has a hard time dealing with Dr. Wocoviak because he often tells Scott to "work on," his problems, instead of giving him the answers. On the last night that Scott and Beaky go to a condominium development to check on the burglars, they get caught. The burglars take them to a shed, but because of all the noise, they awake a neighborhood man who ends up rescuing them. The boys are not rewarded for their activities, but they also are not punished. Scott ends up going to his team coach and apologizing for fighting on the team. He also asks for and receives permission to be back on the team. QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTED ANSWERS: Q. Why does Scott beat up Beaky the first time? A. Beaky has joined in the teasing of Scott that the other boys were doing. Beaky has called him Ape Ears for the first time and others have put that into their teasing as well. Q. What was Scott's parents’ ultimatum after his last fight? A. That if he got in another fight, he would have to see a counselor at the mental health center. Q. Why does Scott resist this idea? A. He doesn't want to be associated with people he thinks of as crazy. He also doesn't want his friends to find out as they may tease him some more. Q. At Scott's first meeting with the counselor, what does Dr. Wocoviak tell Scott that puts him at ease? A. That he isn't going to try to change Scott's whole personality, just to help him beat his temper problem. Q. What easy answers does Scott have to the question, "What makes you mad?" A. He says that it's the other kids and the things they say and do. Q. While at baseball practice, what happens and what is Scott's reaction? A. Beaky teases him for missing the first two pitches. Scott becomes very angry, but he does not do anything to Beaky. Q. Why does Scott ask Dr. Wocoviak to hypnotize him? What is the doctor's response? A. Because he is looking for an easy solution to his problem. The doctor says no because he wants Scott to work out why he is fighting not to just stop without knowing what the problem is. Q. How does Scott end up being off the baseball team? A. He goes to practice very tired, and the teasing begins to get to him. While running to first base, he thinks the first baseman has blocked the bag. The coach calls him out and he has a temper tantrum. Everyone on the team watches him completely dumbfounded. He throws his hat on the ground and quits the team right there and then. Q. How did Scott feel after this temper tantrum? A. He feels foolish. He keeps hearing himself shrieking and seeing the scene again and again in his head. Instead of seeing it from his own point of view, he realizes that he looked very immature in front of his friends and coaches. He now knows what he has lost: his place on the baseball team as well as his self-respect. Q. How does Scott get back on the baseball team? A. He goes to his coaches and apologizes for his tantrum. They tell him he has to watch his step, but are willing to give him a second chance. Q. By the end of the story, how does Scott feel about himself? A. He feels good, and much more in control. Developed by Teddi Hayes, St. Adalbert School, Cleveland, OH.
State Home Page | OCDRCM Home  | The Commission | Updates | Useful Resources For Schools | For Courts and Communities | For State and Local Governments | Write to us