42 pages • 1 hour read
Richard PeckA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
The prologue is narrated by Joey many years after the events that make up the main part of the book. In this opening section, he looks back fondly on the summers that he and Mary Alice spent with their grandmother when they were children and notes that all his memories are true and “growing truer with the years” (1).
Joey and Mary Alice’s grandmother lives in a sleepy town somewhere between Chicago and St. Louis. When a man named Shotgun Cheathham is killed, a city reporter comes to get the scoop. Joey and Mary Alice hear all kinds of rumors about how Shotgun got his nickname, including that he ran with the famous bandits, Jesse and Frank James, but their grandmother claims that this is nonsense. Grandma claims that Shotgun was a terrible shot and got his nickname after he accidentally killed a cow, which isn’t anything exciting because any girl in town could have outshot him, including her. To emphasize her point, she states, “I wasn’t no Annie Oakley myself” (7-8).
When the reporter comes to the house asking for information about Shotgun, Joey’s grandmother tells him that Ulysses S. Grant himself gave Shotgun his nickname during the Civil War.
Plus, gain access to 8,450+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
By Richard Peck
7th-8th Grade Historical Fiction
View Collection
Juvenile Literature
View Collection
Laugh-out-Loud Books
View Collection
Memory
View Collection
National Book Awards Winners & Finalists
View Collection
Newbery Medal & Honor Books
View Collection
School Book List Titles
View Collection
Truth & Lies
View Collection