Big Mouth & Ugly Girl

Describe the complicated relationships between adults and teens in the novel. You’ll recall that this book was written in 2002, a few years after the Columbine school shooting. Why are the adults in the novel justified in their concerns over Matt’s statement? What concerns should adults and Matt’s peers have about his behavior change and about the article he wrote?

You may wish to consider these points as you reflect on the above prompt:

• What does Matt need from the people around him?
• How does Ursula help Matt get what he needs?
• What interventions might have been helpful for Matt as he recovered from his initial mistake?
• How might Matt and Ursula feel let down by their parents?
• Do you think it is part of the teenage experience to recognize that adults are flawed?

Teaching Suggestion: Students may benefit from additional context to make the most of their reflection on and response to these questions. Though the adults are criticized in the novel for their harsh actions and misunderstandings, adults are now legally mandated to alert the proper authorities to threats of violence. Adults also feel a responsibility to guide teens’ thinking in the appropriate direction as they begin to make their own choices. It may be beneficial to discuss initially how parents make many choices for children early on and sometimes have difficulty knowing when to start allowing children to make independent choices. Consider encouraging students to reference the novel to help them organize and justify their thinking about the questions.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who require additional assistance with organizing thoughts or for those with executive functioning challenges, consider providing them with a T-chart. Students may use the graphic organizer to identify adult characters in the left column and describe how each adult behaved in the right column. Guiding peer discussion before students respond in writing will allow all students to begin noting content they may wish to reference in their individual written work.