The Pinballs

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

CHAPTERS 1-6

Reading Check

1. Upon her arrival at the Mason house, Carlie compares the home to what television show?

2. What personal item does Carlie lose in Chapter 4?

3. Who ends up finding Carlie’s lost personal item?

4. In Chapter 5, Harvey silently reflects on the day his mother left for a communal living space on a farm in what state?

Short Answer

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

1. Why is Carlie placed in foster care, as described in Chapter 1?

2. In Chapter 2, generally speaking, how would you describe Carlie’s attitude toward other people? What are her initial impressions when she learns about Harvey and Thomas J’s imminent arrival at the Mason house?

3. When Thomas J first arrives at the Masons, why does he have a tendency to yell when speaking?

4. What are the reasons why Harvey’s mother abruptly ends up leaving Harvey and Harvey’s father?

Paired Resource

“Betsy Byars, Who Wrote of Deserted Children, Is Dead at 91”

• This is The New York Times’s obituary for Betsy Byars, who passed away in 2020.
• The piece reviews the life and legacy of the author, whose larger body of work, including The Pinballs, often touched upon The Effects of Parental Abuse on Children and The Importance of Love and Support.
• Considering the author’s personal biography, why do you think so much of the author’s work focuses upon orphaned and/or otherwise abandoned children?

CHAPTERS 7-14

Reading Check

1. As seen in Chapter 8, where does Harvey compose the majority of his lists?

2. Mr. Mason takes Thomas J to visit whom in the hospital in Chapter 9?

3. After dinner in Chapter 11, Carlie asks the boys what she can do to cheer them up. How does Harvey respond?

4. In Chapter 12, Harvey reflects upon how his mother had promised him a particular gift for his birthday, but then abandoned him 11 days later. What was the gift?

Short Answer

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

1. In Chapter 7, Thomas J makes a list of the bad things that have happened to him. In response, Carlie tells him about the two bad things that happened to her. What are those things?

2. What is Harvey’s special connection to the fast-food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken?

3. What do the Benson twins ask of Thomas J in Chapter 10? What does this interaction say about Thomas J’s relationship with the twins?

4. Thinking out loud in Chapter 13, Carlie ponders the qualities she would want in a father. What are those qualities, especially compared to her actual father?

Paired Resource

“‘Pinballs’ Author Wins Golden Archer”

• This is a newspaper article from the September 29, 1982, issue of The Oshkosh Northwestern, reporting on Byars’s win of the Golden Archer Award.
• This article describes Byars’s process of writing and crafting the book, including how her publisher initially reacted to early drafts of The Pinballs and their feelings around her writing about a grim subject like The Effects of Parental Abuse on Children.
• Why does Byars prefer to not write in first person? How did the old writing adage “write what you know” influence her writing, especially in The Pinballs?

CHAPTERS 15-21

Reading Check

1. Who is the “creep” that Carlie wants to see, as she sits on the Masons’ porch in Chapter 15?

2. What is the cause of death for one of the Benson twins in Chapter 17?

3. In Chapter 18, Mrs. Mason tells Carlie that she’s helped Harvey by doing what?

4. What does Harvey’s father give to him as a birthday gift in Chapter 19?

Short Answer

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

1. In Chapter 16, what difficult truth does Harvey come to realize about his mother? How does he come to this realization?

2. Why does Thomas J develop a special sense of empathy and connection with Mr. Mason, in the wake of one of the Benson twins’ death?

3. How is it discovered that Harvey has a bad foot infection?

4. What does Mrs. Mason identify as the worst part of Harvey’s foot infection? What does this say about Harvey’s emotional state?

Paired Resource

“Author Questions”

• On Byars’s website is a “Questions” section where she answered questions frequently asked by her readers.
• Byars said that, since her books were mostly realistic fiction, she tended to get her ideas from things that happened in real life, including darker subjects like Getting What You Want Versus Getting What You Need.
• Can you see any of Byars’s biography reflected in The Pinballs? Are there ways in which Carlie, Harvey, and Thomas J draw from features of Byars’s own life?

CHAPTERS 22-26

Reading Check

1. In Chapter 22, why is Thomas J unable to sleep?

2. What beverage does Harvey ask the nurse for in Chapter 23, so he, Carlie, and Thomas J can celebrate his birthday?

3. Whose funeral does Thomas J attend in Chapter 25?

Short Answer

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

1. How do the adults—specifically, the nurse at the hospital and the Masons—react to Carlie and Thomas J giving Harvey a puppy?

2. Why does the author opt not to reveal Harvey’s specific medical diagnosis in Chapters 22-26?

3. When Thomas J volunteers to help Carlie in her plan to get Harvey a puppy, how does that reflect his overall character growth?

Recommended Next Reads 

The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars

• Winner of the Newbery Medal, The Summer of the Swans is the coming-of-age story of Sara Godfrey, a young girl who struggles to find herself as she searches for her 10-year-old missing younger brother, Charlie.
• The search to find Charlie, who has an intellectual disability, is especially fraught. Sara is able to find him only after an intense search, underscoring The Importance of Love and Support.
• As with The Pinballs, The Summer of the Swans explores dark subject matter such as grief, loss, and social isolation.
• The Summer of the Swans on SuperSummary

They Cage the Animals at Night by Jennings Michael Burch

• They Cage the Animals at Night is the real-life story of author Jennings Michael Burch, who was abandoned at an orphanage by his mother when he was just eight.
• The book recounts Burch’s harrowing experience of moving through numerous foster homes, and in doing so touches upon themes related to The Effects of Parental Abuse on Children.
• They Cage the Animals at Night shows the American foster care system as deeply broken, unlike The Pinballs, which is largely apolitical in its portrayal.
• They Cage the Animals at Night on SuperSummary