The Red Umbrella

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapter 1-4

Reading Check

1. What is the name of the boy Lucia has a crush on?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. In Chapter 2, what does Lucia think her mother wants to talk to her about at breakfast?

2. In Chapter 3, why do Lucia and Frankie decide not to tell their parents about what they saw at the school?

Chapters 5-8

Reading Check

1. Why does her mother send Lucia to the pharmacy in Chapter 6?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. When Lucia hides at the top of the stairs to listen to her parents talk in Chapter 5, what does she see her father do?

2. In Chapter 8, what does Ivette pressure Lucia to do that causes Lucia to end up revealing a family secret?

Paired Resource

“A family torn apart by war, 1777”

• This resource from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History offers a primary document written by a young woman during the American Revolution and asks thought-provoking questions about how political divisions impact families.
• The content connects to the novel’s theme of the Effects of Politics on Relationships.
• How are Lucy’s struggles to reconnect with her sister similar to and different from Lucia’s attempts to keep her relationship with Ivette intact?

Chapters 9-12

Reading Check

1. What valuable piece of Sonia’s jewelry is saved from the raid on the family’s house in Chapter 12?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Manuel whisper in Lucia’s ear at the dance?

2. When Lucia sees the soldiers searching her house in Chapter 11, what terrible thought does she have about Ivette?

Chapters 13-16

Reading Check

1. What object does Lucia see when she looks out the airplane window? (Chapter 15)

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What new financial problem does the family face in Chapter 13?

2. After Alicia Milian’s visit, what important announcement do Lucia’s parents make?

Paired Resource

“Operation Pedro Pan: Our Parents' Decision”

• This 5-minute video from the History Miami Museum features interviews with adults who were part of the Operation Pedro Pan evacuation of children from Cuba.
• This content connects to the novel’s theme of the Loss of Innocence and Coming of Age.
• Of the people who share their experiences in this video, whose experiences most closely match Lucia’s and Frankie’s? Why?

Chapters 17-20

Reading Check

1. What is the name of Lucia’s bunkmate in the dormitory?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What makes Lucia feel like a prisoner at Kendall?

2. Why does Mr. Alvarez decide to help Lucia and Frankie?

Chapters 21-24

Reading Check

1. What do Lucia and Frankie throw at each other in Chapter 23?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. In Chapter 21, what are three things Lucia finds disappointing about living with the Baxters?

2. What happens at breakfast in Chapter 22 that shows that Mrs. Baxter knows very little about Cuban culture?

Paired Resource

“Culture Shock”

• This thorough article from Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital explains what culture shock is and offers advice for dealing with it. Consider offering younger readers excerpts from the article instead of asking them to read the entire article.
• This content connects to the novel’s theme of the Loss of Innocence and Coming of Age.
• Do you think that Lucia is experiencing culture shock? What advice would you give her to help her adjust to her new environment?

Chapters 25-29

Reading Check

1. In Chapter 26, which of Lucia’s classes impresses Jennifer?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. In Chapter 25, what practice of Lucia’s causes her to realize that the Cuban people have given up too much in exchange for political changes?

2. What is Jennifer’s theory about why Betty is so mean to Lucia?

Chapters 30-33

Reading Check

1. What gift do Frankie and Lucia receive from the Baxters that Lucia calls “the best gift of all”? (293)

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Mrs. Baxter try to ease Frankie’s fears about celebrating Christmas in the U.S.?

2. What difficult news does Lucia receive in Chapter 32 in a letter from Ivette?

Paired Resource

“A Web of Indoctrination Catches Cuba’s Students” by Claudia Marquez Linares

• This brief first-hand account explores how Cuba’s educational system impacts the son of a prominent journalist and an imprisoned dissident.
• The content connects to the novel’s theme of the Effects of Politics on Relationships.
• How do you think Marquez Linares’s son’s relationship with his parents is impacted by the indoctrination he experiences in school? How is this similar to and different from what happens to Ivette in the novel?

Chapters 34-37

Reading Check

1. Who is carrying the red umbrella at the end of the novel?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Lucia choose the white heron as the topic of her project about migration?

2. What news does Lucia receive from her mother in Chapter 36 as she is getting ready to go to the movies with her friends?

Recommended Next Reads

90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis

• This award-winning middle grades novel tells the story of Julien, a Cuban boy who, along with his brothers, is sent to a refugee camp in the U.S. as a part of the Pedro Pan operation.
• Shared topics include the Cuban Revolution and its impact on ordinary citizens, immigration, and the importance of family ties.
• Shared themes include the Loss of Innocence and Coming of Age and The Conflict Between Cuba and the US.
• 90 Miles to Havana on SuperSummary