Common Literary Terms

Common Literary Terms
Allusion
- an indirect reference to something
Analogy
- comparison based on similar features of two things
Antoganist
- the adversary or opposition of something or someone in a literary work
Caricature
- a representation of someone or something where the subject’s features or peculiarities are
exaggerated or oversimplified.
Characterisation
- the act of describing a character or character’s key features
Climax
- a decisive moment or the most exciting point of a narrative or drama that usually happens near the
end.
Complication
- a development that heightens a conflict
Conflict
- struggle or opposition between two or more groups of people, especially in a literary work
Diction
- choice and use of words in writing
Exposition
- the act of explaining and providing background information to understand what is going on, usually of
a play
Falling action
- post-climax of a literary plot
Fiction
- a literary work that is created out of pure imagination
Flashback
- the act of returning back to an earlier event or scene in literary works, theatrical works or films
Foil
- something or someone that makes another character seem better by contrast
Foreshadowing
- to indicate in advance what will happen in the story
Genre
- a style, especially of a literary work marked by a set of particular characteristics.
Graphic novel
- a novel in comic-strip form
Imagery
- the use of figurative or descriptive language in a literary work
Irony
- A literary style where words are used to convey a meaning, usually humorous or angry that is opposite
to its literal meaning. There are three types of irony:
• verbal irony – a figure of speech where the author says something but means something else entirely
• dramatic irony – a figure of speech where the reader or the audience knows something about the
present or the future of the plot in the story that the characters do not know
• situational irony – a figure of speech where there is inconsistency between what is expected to
happen and what actually does
Mood
- the predominant tone of a literary work
Motif
- a recurring element in an artistic or literary work, usually used frequently throughout the story
Plot
- the storyline or the structure of the main story in a literary work
Point of view
- the way a story is narrated or is being considered and who narrates it
Protagonist
- the leading character in a literary work
Resolution
- finding a solution to a problem, where the complications of the story are usually settled or simplified
Rising action
- a series of events in a literary plot before the climax
Setting
- the time and place of a narrative, drama, or film
Theme
- an idea or motif that is repeated throughout a story
Turning point
- a critical moment where the course of events changes significantly
Introduction to the Novel
1. A novel tells a story. It is written in ordinary language i.e. prose.
2. A novel is normally divided into chapters for easy reading.
3. A novel has a more complicated plot compared to a short story. In addition to the main plot, there
may be sun-plots or supporting side stories.
4. In a novel, there is usually a main character called the protagonist, plus some major characters and
minor characters. The plot revolves around the main character and his or her actions, thoughts,
speech and relationships with the other characters. The main character and even some of the major
characters are well-developed i.e. you get to know them quite well in the course of the story.
5. Novels can be about anything. They can explore human struggles and relationships or issues like war
and social injustice. For example, Catch Us If You Can touches on the subject of how normal parental
roles are reversed, an issue that is becoming more and more common nowadays.
6. Examination questions will test your understanding of the story, so you must read the novel carefully.
When you read, you should ask the following questions:
• Where is the story set?
• Who are the characters?
• How do they relate to one another?
• What happens to them?
• What are the characters’ values and beliefs?
• How does the novel end?
• What did we learn from the story?
7. In the examination, you may be required to write a short story giving your personal opinion or
response. You need to have a good understanding of the key elements of the novel such as the
setting, plot, characters, theme, moral values and lessons learnt. To do well in this question, you must
support your opinion with textual evidence from the story.
You can study the novel in your anthology according to the key elements shown below:
Setting Characters
Plot The people in the Theme
Place, time and
Sequence of actions novel The central idea or
social environment of
& events in the novel • Who are the main subject of the novel
the novel
• What happens in characters? • What is the main
• Where and when
the novel? • What are their theme of the
is the novel set?
• How does the strengths and story?
• How does the
story end? weaknesses? • What is the story
setting influence
• How are A and B about?
the novel?
different from each
other?
Message
Elements of The idea the writer
the Novel wants to convey in
the novel
• What do you think
is the message in
this novel?
Moral values
Language & Style The values the story
Point of View
The way the writer teaches you
The angle from which
has written the novel • What moral
the story is told
• How does the lessons can you
• Who is telling the
writer present his draw from the
story?
story? story?
• Is the story told in
• What literary • What moral values
the first person or
devices does he do the main
third person?
use? characters
display?
Catch Us If You Can
By: Catherine MacPhail
About The Author
Catherine McPhail is a best-selling author, tutor and speaker. Born in Scotland, she grew up with
three sisters and a widowed mother. In her website, Catherine stated that her mother was always reading
books and was never away from the library. She has remembered the library as a wonderful place from
where one could just walk away with a stack of books without having to pay for them! She inherited the
love of reading from her mother.
Her first books, Run, Zan, Run was inspired by her youngest daughter, Katie, who was being bullied
at school. Catherine wanted to highlight through her writing how little help is actually available for these
children. Run, Zan, Run won the 1994 Kathleen Fidler Award for new Scottish Writing. Her next book
entitled fighting back , about loan-sharking, was the winner of the first Scottish Arts Council Children’s
Book Awards in 1999, and was equally well received. She has also written a crime thriller series for young
adults, entitled Nemesis.
According to Catherine, most of her writing has been inspired by her own background and home
town.
List of Characters
Main Characters
Granda
Granda or Mister McIntosh is Rory’s grandfather. He has been taking care of
Rory since Rory’s father left and his mother died. He is suffering from memory loss and is hard
of hearing. He is kind and has a great influence over Rory’s life. He loves Rory very much.
Rory McIntosh
The grandson of Mister McIntosh or Granda. He is a school-going boy
and does whatever he can to take care of his granda. He takes on a lot of responsibility for
his age.
Sammy
The man in the park whom Rory and Granda meet when they go fishing.
Granda refers to him as a “tinker”. When the police are after Rory and his granda, Sammy
helps them to escape from the police and drive them north to his brother’s place in Forfar.
List of Characters
Ruby
Ruby is Sammy’s wife. She is kind to Rory and Granda. She also has the gift
for fortune telling. She reads Rory’s palm and tells him that his life is a life full of
adventures. Rory will also face great grief before he finally finds that he is looking for.
Tyrone
Tyrone is Sammy and Ruby’s son. He loves the adventure that he has
with his parents. The social workers are always on his case because he is not in school and
his parents are seen as unfit parents.
Rab
He is the man at the petrol station who provides food and shelter for Rory
and his granda. Rab hides the stolen car in his garage. He helps Rory to plan the escape to
Liverpool. Rab gets his girlfriend, Annie to help. Granda is touched by Rab’s kindness.
List of Characters
Minor Characters
Dr Nicol
He is a doctor who has been treating Granda. He is concerned about
Granda’s health. He also feels that Rory is taking on too much responisibility for his
age. Therefore, he refers this case to the social services. Consequently, a social worker, Val
Jessup is assigned to look into Rory and Granda’s welfare.
Mrs Foley
She is Rory’s class teacher. Granda refers to her as “Holy Foley”. She is
constantly asking Rory about his granda. She also has plans to adopt Rory when his granda
lands in the hospital and is deemed unfit to take care of Rory. Rory confides in her over his
fear of staying in Castle Street because of a girl named Tess.
Darren Fisher
He is Rory’s best friend and classmate. He helps Rory with the escape
plan by giving Rory the spare key to his mother’s caravan.
List of Characters
Mrs Mackay
The neighbour who lives in the flat where Rory and his granda live.
Mr Hood
The teacher who teaches football. He wants Rory to join the football team.
Rory lies to him about disliking football.
Val Jessup
A social worker assigned to Rory and his granda’s case. She is young
and she is handling her first case.
List of Characters
Tony
A youth staying at Castle Street. He greets Rory when he first arrives at
Castle Street.
Tom and Jackie

Tom is a boy with ginger hair and pale skin while Jackie is a black boy.
They live at Castle Street. They are Rory’s roommates at Castle Street.
Georgie
A shy blonde girl who lives at Castle Street. She greets Rory with a smile
when he first arrives at Castle Street.
List of Characters
Tess
She lives in Castle Street. Her violent behaviour causes everyone who
stays there to be fearful. She constantly loses her temper and cause bodily harm to others.
She is also given special privileges like having a private tutor and goes to school by taxi.
Nellie
The lady assigned to help Tess. She keeps a close watch of Tess.
Bella
Rory’s grandmother who has passed away.
Bernie
Sammy’s brother who lives at Forfar. He advises Granda to think of the next plan because the authorities
are widening the search for him and Rory.
Bernie’s wife
She has fair hair and not as pretty as Ruby.
Zara
Bernie’s daughter. Sammy, his family, Rory and Granda are there for her birthday party.
List of Characters
Joshua
Bernie’s son who is still a baby.
Boy on the train

He is on the same train that Rory and Granda board at Dundee. Later, he catches up with Rory outside
the toilets at Perth Station. He wants to turn them in and become famous. Granda knocks him out with a
bottle in an attempt to free his grandson and escape.
Jeff McIntosh
Jeff McIntosh is Rory’s father. He walked out on his family when Rory was only a baby. Rory’s mother
died of a broken heart when Jeff McIntosh left her. He is reunited with Rory at the end of the story.
Annie
She is Rab’s girlfriend. She meets up with Rab, Rory and Granda on a deserted road headed south. She
drives Rory and Granda to Lake District, England.
Norma
Annie’s cousin who lives in a cosy cottage in Lake District, England. She alerts the authorities when she
finds Granda to be in very poor health.
Nicola
Norma’s daughter. She shows genuine concern for Granda and Rory. She calls Rory when she finds out
that her mother has reported them to the police.
List of Characters
William
The man whom Rory goes to for help when he finds his Granda lifeless at the bus shelter. William gets
Rory to show him the place where his granda is.
Alice
William’s wife. She recognises Rory from the news. She is instructed by her husband to call the police
and to wait for his call on the location of Rory’s Granda.
Karen
Jeff McIntosh’s second wife. She is the mother to Rhonda and Ava. She lives in Liverpool.
Rhonda
Jeff’s first daughter from his second marriage. She is five years old.
Ava
Jeff’s second daughter from his second marriage. She is three years old.
Synopsis
Rory McIntosh’s grandfather, Granda, has looked after Rory ever since Rory’s father walks out on
his mother and him. It is now Rory’s turn to care for his grandfather. However, Granda is in poor health
and prone to memory lapses. When circumstances, that is, a fire accidentally set off due to Granda’s
forgetfulness, and Granda’s worsening state of mind and health force Granda into a home, Rory feels his
sense of family and belonging threatened. The authority attempts to separate them by putting them in
different homes. Granda rather dies than staying in an old folk’s home. Rory feels the same. Their need to
stay together forces Rory to run away with his grandfather so that they will always be together. They have
to evade the authority all the way as news of their disappearance and escape is on daily in the television
and newspapers. They meet help along the way, from people they least expect to help, and also get
betrayed, from people they trust as they find their way to Jeff McIntosh, Rory’s father, who abandons his
family.
Setting
Setting
Physical Setting
(1) Scotland and England
1. Rory McIntosh lives with Granda in Scotland.

2. Together, they travel with Tyrone’s family in a caravan up north, through Perthshire.
3. They meet up with Tyrone’s cousin and family on the outskirt of Forfar.
4. They are driven to Dundee to take a train to Glasgow.
5. They head south after Glasgow to England to escape detection by the authority.
6. They leave train at Perth station instead of heading for Glasgow because they are detected by a
woman on board train.
7. They are driven by Rab to the Borders for England to go to Liverpool.
8. Then, they are taken to Norma’s cottage in the Lake District, England.
9. They finally settle down in Liverpool where Rory’s father lives.
(2) Flat
1. Rory lives with Granda in a flat.

2. Rory cleans and looks after the flat alone.
3. Granda throws Rory’s homework down the rubbish chute and puts the rubbish in his school bag.
4. Granda tries to cook at home but always leaves the electric ring switched on and burns out the pot.
5. Granda almost burns down the flat when he leaves the chip pan on.
(3) School
1. Rory’s classmates love Granda too and are always trying to help.
2. Rory’s best friend in school is Darren who gives him the spare key to his mother’s caravan.
3. Rory’s teacher is Mrs Foley.
4. Granda attends Parents’ Night and almost sets the classroom on fire when the smouldering pipe left
in his coat which he hangs on a hook along with the other coats catches fire.
5. Rory gives up football so that he has time to look after Granda.
(4) Hospital
1. Granda suffers from smoke inhalation and is taken to hospital after he almost set the flat on fire.
2. Whilst Granda stays in hospital, Rory is taken to the children’s home in Castle Street.
3. In the hospital Granda is assessed and found unfit to stay at home, so is moved to the local hospital
for the old, Rachnadar.
(5) Rachnadar
1. This is the local old people’s hospital.

2. It is known as the place “where you went when nobody wanted you”.
3. “the very building, stuck on the edge of town, dark and forbidding…”
4. It has “…corridor, (where) the shuffling old people with dead eyes pass up and down, going nowhere”
5. It is where the “nurses, the orderlies, the doctors, seemed to be always watching, always listening…
like wardens in a prison, or jailors in a prisoner-of-war camp”.
6. Rory escapes with Granda one night from Rachnadar through the emergency exit.
(6) Children’s home at Castle Street
1. “…an old Victorian villa converted into a children’s home just after the war”
2. “Grey, dead stone, crow-step gables and even a turret… Like something out of a ghost story”
3. Rory is taken to stay here while Granda is in hospital.
4. Rory sees it as the “stuff of nightmares”.
5. Rory meets other children like Tony, Jackie, Georgie and Tom who welcome him warmly.
6. He also meets Tess who hurls abuses at Rory and attacks him.
(7) Caravan site
1. Granda escapes with Rory from Rachnadar to Darren’s mother’s caravan.

2. They spend some leisure time together.
3. They try to escape from the site when alerted by Darren that police are looking for them.
4. They meet with Sammy’s family who helps them.
5. Sammy manages to get them away from the site in his caravan and they move up north.
(8) Forfar
1. Rory and Granda meet with Tyrone’s uncle and family to celebrate Zara’s birthday.
2. Tyrone’s father and uncle decide that Rory and Granda should go to Glasgow and onward to England
to escape detection by the authority.
(9) Perth station
1. Rory and Granda get down at Perth station because Rory sense that a woman has recognised them.
2. Rory is threatened by a youth, whom he nicknamed ‘Sprout Breath’.
3. The youth wants to report them to the police.
4. Granda whacks the youth out cold and they get away.
5. Granda steals a car for them to get away.
(10) Rab’s petrol station
1. This is a dimly lit petrol station located at the edge of a tiny village.
2. Rory and Granda stop at this petrol station to fill up petrol.
3. Rory learns while watching television at Rab’s flat that his father is in Liverpool.
4. Rory decides to go to Liverpool and Rab supports his decision.
5. Rab drives them to the Borders where his girlfriend, Annie, waits to drive them over to England.
(11) Norma’s cottage in the Lake District
1. Rory and Granda are driven to Norma’s cottage by Annie on the way to Liverpool.
2. Norma reveals them to the police.
3. Rory and Granda leave the cottage hurriedly at dusk with the police on their trail.
(12) Hills behind Norma’s cottage
1. Rory and Granda run off to the hills behind the cottage and eventually on to a back road.
2. Granda passes out on a bench inside a stone bus shelter.
3. Rory runs off to get help.
4. Granda is taken to hospital and Rory meets his father for the first time.
(13) Liverpool
1. Rory and Granda meet Jeff’s family.

2. Jeff attempts to make up with Rory and Granda.
3. Rory and Granda live in a flat close by Jeff’s family,
4. They get home helps and care workers in their new home.
Setting
Social Setting
• Rory has only his grandfather as his mother had died and his father had left the family. His father, Jeff
McIntosh, has remarried and has children.
• People like Dr Nicol, the social worker, Val Jessup and the teacher, Mrs Foley are supportive, helpful
and caring. Some are considered as snobbish, for example, Darren’s mother, who does not want to
mix with the ‘other type of people’ (pg. 66).
• The occupants of the children’s home at Castle Street are helpful and act with compassion, except for
the problematic Tess.
• There is some prejudice against old people and their illnesses. Troubled personalities (Tess) and the
gypsies – people who survive basically on the fringes of society.
• The public is seen as concerned about the plight of both Rory and Granda and they speak up their
minds through the media. This helps to check and correct social abuses.
Setting
Time
• Set in the late 90s – early 2000
• Essentially the story is set in the present. Darren sends a text message to Rory to warn him to run, so
mobile phones are not unusual.
• Petrol stations still have attendants to service cars, so they are not the typical self-service type of
modern times.
Chapter Overview
Chapter 1
1. Rory McIntosh and his grandfather whom he calls ‘Granda’ are at the family doctor’s clinic.
2. Granda has been smoking outside the clinic, and when he comes into the waiting room forgets, as
usual, that he has left his smouldering pipe in his pocket. A girl points out that he is on fire as smoke
belches out of his pocket which immediately prompts Rory to throw water from a vase of flowers at
him to put out the fire.
3. Granda has shown signs of forgetfulness like leaving his shoes in the fridge and the milk in the
wardrobe.
4. Dr Nicol is the family doctor and after examining Granda, wants to get a home help for Rory and
Granda because Rory is only a young boy and he cannot care for Granda alone. Besides, Rory also
looks after their house and daily needs like cooking and cleaning.
Chapter 2
1. At home Rory is unable to locate his homework jotter and discovers that Granda has thrown it down
the rubbish chute instead of the bag of rubbish which he has put into Rory’s school rucksack.
2. Rory is desperate for an excuse to give his teacher, Mrs Foley, why he is unable to turn his homework
in, again. It will be the fourth time in a week he is going to face Mrs Foley about his missing
homework. His classmates try to be helpful as they try to help him come up with an excuse. They love
Granda too and always love to hear about his exploits which they think are hilarious although Rory is
getting more worried than amused by his grandfather’s antics.
3. Mrs Foley does not accept Rory’s excuse of his lost homework. She enquires after his grandfather
and if he is attending Parents’ Night.
4. Rory defies Mrs Foley’s punishment to stay behind at lunchtime to complete his homework and runs
off home to buy lunch for Granda who relies on him daily for his lunch.
Chapter 3
5. Rory used to be in the football team in school but now finds that he has to forgo football to look after
Granda. When his best friend, Darren Fisher, suggests that Granda should perhaps be placed in a
home, Rory is furious and asserts that his grandfather will never go into a home as it would kill him.
6. Rory remembers how Granda is fearful of going to a home as Granda feels that the local old people’s
hospital, Rachnadar, is a place where the old is sent when they are not wanted by anyone.
7. Rory is unable to understand why people do not realise that both Granda and he have only each
other as family. He wonders where he will go if Granda goes to a home.
8. Rory tries to coach Granda for Parent’s Night to impress upon Mrs Foley that Granda is still mentally
fit but he realises that it is going to be tough. Granda is as forgetful as ever.
9. Rory learns about his father and mother from Granda who is still furious with his son (Rory’s father)
whom he believes is spoilt and irresponsible when he walks out on his wife and son (Rory) when
Rory was only a baby.
6. Granda reiterates that all he needs is only Rory and no one else and this gets Rory very worried
again as he recalls how people like Mrs Foley and Darren’s mother are always suggesting that
Granda should be in a home.
Graded Enrichment & Revision Exercises
Chapters 1 to 3
A. Number the following sentences according to the sequence of events in the story.
1. Mr Hood wants Rory to get back into the football team. ( )

2. Granda leaves his shoes in the refrigerator and the milk at the bottom of the wardrobe. ( )
3. Rory decides to tell Mrs Foley truthfully that he has lost his homework. ( )
4. Dr Nicol plans to arrange a home help for Rory and his grandfather. ( )
5. Granda forgets that he has left his smouldering pipe in his pocket and almost set himself on fire the
waiting room. ( )
6. Darren tells Rory that his mother thinks Granda should be in a home. ( )
7. Granda throws Rory’s homework down the rubbish chute. ( )
8. Rory learns how his father has walked out on his mother and him when he was a baby. ( )
9. Rory tries to coach Granda for Parents’ Night. ( )
10. Granda burns out a pot because he forgets to take it off the electric ring. ( )
B. Reading the following statements. Write (T) for statements that are True and (F) for statements that
are False.
1. Rory wants a home help so that he does not worry too much about his grandfather. ( )
2. Granda is a storehouse of knowledge on movies. ( )
3. Rory’s grandfather is on a lot of medication. ( )
4. Granda has looked after Rory since his mother went away. ( )
5. Granda cooks lunch for Rory every day. ( )
6. Granda is undecided if he likes to stay at Rachnadar or not. ( )
7. A home help comes in daily to clean Rory’s flat. ( )
8. Rory wishes his grandfather could go to a home so he can play football again. ( )
9. Granda misses his wife and son. ( )
10. Rory wants his grandfather to show Mrs Foley that he is fit. ( )
Chapter 4
1. It is Parents’ Night. Granda accompanies Rory to school to meet his teacher.
2. Granda forgets again that he has left his smouldering pipe in his coat which he has hung on a hook
next to Mrs Foley’s in the classroom. The coat catches fire but Darren’s father manages to put out the
fire with a bucket of water which he throws over the other coats as well, including Mrs Foley’s.
3. Rory is very concerned when he observes Mrs Foley’s look as he recalls how his grandfather has
commented earlier on Mrs Foley’s “moustache” when he first meets her, and also the effect of the fire
incident which ruins Mrs Foley’s newly dry-cleaned coat.
Chapter 5
1. Rory is very troubled as he recalls the disastrous Parents’ Night and the looks on the faces of the
school caretaker, Mrs Foley and some of the parents. He gets feedback from Darren about how his
mother feels and learns that she is worried about Rory looking after his grandfather alone as she
feels that he is too young to shoulder such responsibility.
2. A social worker, Val Jessup, visits Rory and Granda at home. She is sent by their family doctor.
3. Rory is hopeful and dreams that Val will organise a home help who could look after Granda and his
daily needs which could leave him free to play football again.
4. A few days later, as Rory leaves school for the bakery, he is met by the baker at the door and told that
a Fire Brigade has been to his flats and someone has been taken away in an ambulance. It turns out
that Granda has started a fire as he left the chip pan on and forgotten about it. He has been taken to
the hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.
Comments
The first five chapters portray the nature of the two main characters and establish the close
relationship between Rory and his grandfather. In this way the two gain the sympathy of the
reader. We see how responsible Rory is towards his grandfather but this is at the expense of his
schoolwork, a fact that Rory denies. Society, in the guise of Mrs Foley intrudes into the life of the
McIntosh family. We also gain some insight into Rory’s background and this helps to tie up the
story with the final chapter.
Chapter 5 indicates a turn in the chain of events as it ends on a ominous note. We know
that things are not going to be the same in the McIntosh household.
In terms of style, language changes from humour of the first two chapters to one of horror
as the readers can sense that two loving people are going to be separated from one another. The
light-hearted tone of the earlier chapters turns to one of heartbreak.
Chapters 4 and 5
1. Mrs Foley senses a certain smell in the room. ( )

2. Granda accompanies Rory to attend Parents’ Night. ( )
3. Rory waits anxiously for his grandfather to return from the toilet. ( )
4. Darren’s father puts out the fire by throwing a bucket of water over the coat. ( )
5. Granda hangs his coat on a hook alongside the other coats in the classroom. ( )
6. It is Granda’s coat on fire because he has left his smouldering pipe in his coat pocket. ( )
7. Someone in the classroom yells that something is on fire. ( )
8. Rory’s grandfather is taken away in an ambulance. ( )
9. Mrs Foley’s coat catches fire. ( )
10. Darren tells Rory that his mother says he is too young to look after his grandfather. ( )
11. Rory looks forward to a home help. ( )
12. The policeman tells Rory that Granda has left a chip pan on and forgotten about it which started the
fire. ( )
13. Mrs Foley enquires after Rory’s grandfather and is pleased to know that they are getting a home help.
( )
14. Val Jessup, a social worker, visits Rory and his grandfather in the flat. ( )
15. The baker tells Rory that the Fire Brigade has been to his flats. ( )
are False.
1. Rory hides Granda’s pipe in the home so that it will not start a fire. ( )
2. Rory comes home one day to find his grandfather taken ill to hospital. ( )
3. The school caretaker is called to put out the fire in the classroom. ( )
4. Mrs Foley complains to Granda that Rory does not do his homework. ( )
5. Granda points out Mrs Foley’s moustache to everyone. ( )
6. Rory’s classmates find the fire incident in the classroom hilarious. ( )
7. Mrs Foley sends a social worker to look in on Rory and her grandfather. ( )
8. Rory will be joining the football team again. ( )
9. Darren’s mother thinks looking after Granda is too heavy a responsibility for Rory. ( )
10. Val Jessup promises to get a home help who could come in to make lunch for Granda. ( )
Chapter Overview
Chapter 6
1. Granda is in the hospital and Rory is taken to see him. Granda lies unconscious and Rory prays
earnestly to the ‘Big Man’ for his grandfather to wake up.
2. Val Jessup comes and meets Rory at the hospital. She announces that Rory has to stay at the
children’s home at Castle Street while his grandfather is in hospital.
Chapter 7
3. Rory arrives at the children’s home and is met by Tony who greets him warmly. He then gets to meet
the other children in the kitchen. They get to know each other.
4. Rory gets to meet Tess and learns that she is an angry and aggressive girl. Rory feels terribly fearful
when he imagines life at the home with abusive and hostile children like Tess around.
Chapters 6 and 7
1. A male nurse at the door to the room tells Rory that his grandfather is very weak. ( )
2. Granda has an oxygen mask over his face and drips and needles on him. ( )
3. Rory goes to the hospital with a policewoman. ( )
4. Rory prays to the Big Man to wake Granda up. ( )
5. Tony stands at the door to welcome Rory to the children’s home. ( )
6. Rory believes that he will get out of the home before Tess does. ( )
7. Val Jessup comes to visit Rory and Granda at the hospital. ( )
8. Rory is told that he cannot live in the flat by himself. ( )
9. Rory does to stay at the children’s home at Castle Street. ( )
10. Rory meets the other children in the kitchen. ( )
11. Tess flies into the kitchen and aims her anger at Rory. ( )
12. Tess is heard creating a scene in another room. ( )
13. Rory grows increasingly fearful as he lies down listening to Tess raving in her room. ( )
14. Although Rory feels comfortable in the bed at the home, he still wishes he is anywhere else except
the home. ( )
are False.
1. Val Jessup tells Rory she will foster him whilst Granda is in hospital. ( )
2. Rory goes to the hospital and finds Granda shouting for cups of tea. ( )
3. Rory prays to the Big Man to get his grandfather out of the hospital. ( )
4. The nurses treat Rory kindly as he looks helplessly at his grandfather on the bed. ( )
5. Granda lies lifeless on the bed with monitors all round him. ( )
6. Tess warns Rory that she will hurt him. ( )
7. Tony and some of the children at the home try to make Rory feel welcomed. ( )
8. Tess is going to jail to be with her mother. ( )
9. Rory resolves to defend himself against Tess. ( )
10. The children at Castle Street home are all well behaved. ( )
Chapter Overview
Chapter 8
1. Rory learns more about Tess and how she treated differently from the other children.
2. Rory goes to visit Granda at the hospital and finds that he is better. Granda learns that Rory has
stayed at a children’s home the night before and gets terribly upset. He vows to get out of hospital the
next day so that Rory need not stay at the home.
Chapter 9
3. Val takes Rory to his flat to collect his clothes. He decides to get his grandfather’s pills as well. He
feels apprehensive as he wonders how long his grandfather has to stay in the hospital and how long
he has to stay at the home.
4. At the home, Tess behaves aggressively and attacks Rory. Rory learns that Tess comes from a
broken family where her mother is in prison and no one wants her, that is, nether her own aunts not
anyone wants to put up with her. Rory continues to feel scared where Tess is concerned.
5. Rory continues to visit his grandfather at the hospital as his grandfather gets better. He learns about
his grandfather being ‘questioned’.
6. Rory feels very nervous when Val phones to say that she has something important to say to him
when she sees him the next day.
Chapters 8 and 9
1. Granda is furious when he finds out that Rory has spent the night at Castle Street. ( )
2. Tony finds out that Granda has gained consciousness. ( )
3. Rory steps out of the lift and hears Granda’s booming voice. ( )
4. Rory wakes up to find that Tess is as hostile as the night before. ( )
5. Rory goes back to the flat to collect his clothes. ( )
6. Rory tries to convince Granda that he spends the night with Val Jessup. ( )
7. Rory continues to visit Granda every day after school. ( )
8. Val calls to tell Rory that she has something important to discuss with him. ( )
9. A woman visits the hospital and asks Granda some questions. ( )
10. Tess attacks Rory one night on hearing Rory say she is like her mother. ( )
are False.
1. Tess scratches Rory one night after dinner. ( )

2. Rory decides to pick up Granda’s pills when he returns to the flat to collect his clothes. ( )
3. Val tells Rory not to worry about painting the flat. ( )
4. Rory sympathises with Tess upon learning about her background. ( )
5. Rory wants Granda to stop announcing that movie stars visit him. ( )
6. Rory is hopeful when Val phones to say she wants to discuss an important matter with him. (
)
7. A nurse questions Granda to assess him. ( )
8. Tess is an abandoned child after her mother goes to prison. ( )
9. Both Rory and Granda cannot wait to return home to their flat. ( )
10. Granda learns from Val that Rory is at the children’s home at Castle Street. ( )
Chapter Overview
Chapter 10
1. Rory finds that Mrs Foley is especially nice to him. She regularly asks about his and his granfather’s
welfare.
2. Rory finds out from Darren that his mother thinks that Mrs Foley may want to foster him, a thought
which frightens Rory.
3. After school, Rory runs to the hospital to look up his grandfather and finds him missing. He is horrified
that his grandfather may be dead.
Chapter 11
4. Rory panics as he thinks Granda has died and has to be calmed down by the nurse.
5. Val arrives to talk to Rory who learns that his grandfather has been moved to Rachnadar. He has been
assessed and found unfit which means that he has to be in a hospital for always.
Chapters 10 and 11
1. Rory tells Mrs Foley about Tess. ( )

2. Mrs Foley asks Rory about his days at Castle Street. ( )
3. Darren reveals to Rory that his mother thinks Mrs Foley may want to foster him. ( )
4. Mrs Foley seems to decide that Rory should not stay at the children’s home. ( )
5. Rory panics at the thought of being fostered by Mrs Foley. ( )
6. Rory goes to the hospital to visit Granda to find an empty bed in his room. ( )
7. Rory thinks that Granda has died. ( )
8. Val arrives to explain to Rory that Granda has been assessed and found unfit to return home.
( )
9. The nurses try to calm Rory who is uncontrollable when he thinks that Granda is dead. ( )
10. Granda has been moved to Rachnadar. ( )
are False.
1. Granda is moved to another ward after being assessed unfit. ( )

2. Mrs Foley confides that she wants to foster Rory. ( )
3. Rory is terrrified when he learns that Mrs Foley wants to foster him. ( )
4. Rory is told that he is too young to assume responsibility for his grandfather . ( )
5. Rory has to be soothed when he thinks that his grandfather has passed away. ( )
6. Val says that it has been difficult to decide to send Granda to Rachnadar. ( )
7. Mrs Foley always enquires after Rory’s grandfather since he has been taken into hospital.
()
8. Mrs Foley is unhappy when she finds out that Tess has attacked Rory. ( )
9. Rory goes to pieces when he cannot find Granda anywhere in his room. ( )
10. Darren’s mother is thinking of being a foster parent. ( )
Chapter Overview
Chapter 12
1. Rory goes to Rachnadar and finds his grandfather sitting on a bed, crying. Granda is shocked that he
has been brought to Rachnadar instead of his own home. To him, Rachnadar is where they put old
folk that nobody wants. Granda wants to get out of Rachnadar.
2. Granda feels that he has let Rory down because he is unable to look after him and as a result, Rory
has to stay at the children’s home.
3. Rory too is having an awful time. He gets back to Castle Street and finds that Tess is in a foul mood
and has made things worse for everyone.
4. Rory is viciously attacked by Tess when he tells her off.
5. Rory goes to visit Granda who talks about running away from the home.
6. Rory gets more depressed when he goes back to Castle Street and finds Tony with a bleeding cheek,
Tess’s doing.
7. Rory contemplates his situation and decides that he an his Granda are going to run away.
Chapter 13
8. Rory has been planning his Great Escape for three days when Darren offers him a solution. Darren
suggests that they go to his mother’s caravan which is in a secluded site. He gives Rory the spare
key to the caravan.
9. Without telling Granda his plan, Rory quietly plans how he could take his grandfather out of the home.
10. The day to escape arrives. Val goes with Rory to visit Granda that night. While she is having coffee
with the other nurses, Rory prepares Granda by dressing him up and then announces that he is
getting him out of the home.
Chapters 12 and 13
1. Granda withdraws more and more into himself at Rachnadar. ( )

2. The nurses have to give something to Granda to make him sleep as he grows more agitated.
( )
3. Rory arrives at Rachnadar and finds Granda crying on his bed. ( )
4. Granda sobs and says that he wants to go home. ( )
5. Tess lunges at Rory and punches him on the nose. ( )
6. Back at Castle Street, Rory shouts at Tess to stop her raving. ( )
7. Granda talks to Rory about running away if he were younger. ( )
8. Darren gives Rory the spare key to his mother’s caravan. ( )
9. Rory comes home one day to find Tony cleaning his bleeding cheek. ( )
10. Darren offers Rory a solution to where he and Granda could go to. ( )
11. Val leaves Rory alone with his Granda to have coffee with the nurses. ( )
12. Rory tells Val that Granda is dying at Rachnadar. ( )
13. Rory decides that he will sneak Granda out through the emergency exit to escape. ( )
14. Rory resolves that he and Granda are going to run away from their respective homes. ( )
15. Rory quickly gets Granda dressed for the escape. ( )
are False.
1. Tess attacks both Rory and Tony one night while they are having tea. ( )
2. Granda remembers that people were more caring in the past. ( )
3. Val believes that Granda will settle down at Rachnadar and be happy. ( )
4. Rory prepares for the escape by ensuring that the emergency door is wedged open, unknown to the
nurses. ( )
5. Rory plans to catch the train to the caravan park. ( )
6. Darren quietly gets his mother’s permission to loan the caravan to Rory. ( )
7. Granda feels that he is irresponsible for causing Rory to stay at Castle Street. ( )
8. Rory turns away when Tess is in a bad mood. ( )
9. Rory plans his Great Escape together with Darren. ( )
10. Darren is sworn to secrecy about Rory’s plan to escape with Granda. ( )
Chapter Overview
Chapter 14
1. Both Rory and Granda successfully sneak out through the emergency exit and out of Rachnadar to a
quiet train station where they are not noticed.
2. They arrive at the train’s final stop at the pierhead where they alight and proceed uphill in a fine
drizzle, first along the coast road and then up a long winding path that leads to the caravan site.
3. They find the caravan and are delighted that it is in a secluded spot and the caravan is a luxury and
well stocked too.
4. Rory resolves more than ever to ensure that both he and his grandfather will never be separated
again.
Chapter 15
5. Both grandfather and grandson spend a leisurely day together. Grandfather has made breakfast and
after they have eaten, both of them go for a walk along the hill path.
6. They fish in a pond in the afternoon and Granda catches a fish.
7. They are enjoying themselves so much that they are not alert to the sound of footsteps approaching
them.
Chapters 14 and 15
1. They find a pond and Granda catches a fish. ( )

2. Rory and Granda reach the deserted platform at the station and take the train. ( )
3. Rory and Granda are so engrossed that they do not hear footsteps approaching. ( )
4. Grandfather and grandson walk uphill in the drizzle to the caravan site. ( )
5. Rory prays that Grand will make it safely to the caravan. ( )
6. Granda is delighted to see the caravan. ( )
7. Rory wakes up to find that Granda has made breakfast. ( )
8. The train stops at the pierhead where Rory and Granda get off. ( )
9. They go for a walk along the hill path overlooking the river. ( )
10. While Granda settles down and sleeps, Rory thinks of how they have escaped. ( )
are False.
1. Rory and Granda walk into a quiet station to take the train. ( )
2. Everything goes as planned as Rory and Granda leave the hospital. ( )
3. Rory initially plans to run off with Granda to an island. ( )
4. Granda struggles all the way uphill to the caravan site. ( )
5. Rory plans his escape so that he and Granda can live in the caravan. ( )
6. Rory and Granda cried a lot in the caravan. ( )
7. Rory and Granda spend the day at the caravan site planning their next move. ( )
8. Rory and Granda find the caravan clean but ill-fitted. ( )
9. Granda vows that they will stay as long as possible in the caravan. ( )
10. Granda remembers he used to come to the caravan site which was then a Boy Scout camp.
( )
Chapter Overview
Chapter 16
1. Two persons, a man and a boy called Tyrone, appear out of the undergrowth to confront them. They
have a short exchange of words and the two leave when Granda gets hostile. He called them “tinkers’
and says he does not trust them. Rory says they are travellers.
2. Rory and Granda return to the caravan where they have fish for tea. Meanwhile, Rory fears that the
man may reveal them to the police.
3. Rory learns more about his grandfather in the next few days and is happy to note that Granda seems
to be better although he still has his memory lapses.
4. Whilst things are going well for them at the moment, Rory worries about where to run to when the
time comes when they are discovered.
5. A text message comes the next day from Darren that they have been discovered.
Chapter 17
6. Rory and his grandfather leave the caravan in haste into the cold darkness. They walk down the road
and hide in the undergrowth when they detect a police car passing by to the caravan. They duck into
the bushes again as the police car return and pass them again, and to Rory’s dismay, the car stops at
the entrance to the park, blocking any vehicle from entering or exiting the park. More police cars
arrive at the entrance. Rory watches as the policemen are given orders and then, they spread out to
search for Rory and Granda.
7. As Rory desperately decides what to do as some of the police head in their direction, he feels
someone clamps a hand round his mouth and sees another man do the same to his grandfather’s
mouth. The man quietly announces that they are going to help Rory and his grandfather.
Chapters 14 and 15
1. They hide in the undergrowth when a police car passes by to the caravan site. ( )
2. Rory fears that the man and boy will reveal them to the police. ( )
3. The man is equally hostile towards Rory and Granda. ( )
4. Granda chases the man and boy away. ( )
5. Rory receives an urgent message from Darren that they have been discovered. ( )
6. Two persons emerge through the undergrowth to confront Rory and Granda. ( )
7. Rory and his grandfather leave the caravan hastily into the dark. ( )
8. Police cars block the entrance to the park, disallowing any vehicle from entering or exiting the park.
( )
9. The man quietly says that they are going to help Rory and his grandfather. ( )
10. Rory feels someone clamps a hand round his mouth and sees another man do the same to his
grandfather’s mouth. ( )
are False.
1. The boy emerges from the undergrowth and seems friendly. ( )

2. Granda reacts harshly to the appearance of the man and the boy. ( )
3. Granda accuses the man of wanting to steal his fish. ( )
4. Rory thinks that the man will not report them to the police. ( )
5. The environment in the caravan site benefits Granda a lot. ( )
6. Grands lived beside a river when he was a boy. ( )
7. The police head straight for Rory’s caravan when they arrive at the park. ( )
8. Rory and Granda ask for help when they see the police approaching. ( )
9. Rory wants to catch a train or a boat as soon as they can leave the park. ( )
10. Granda wants Rory to leave him behind and escape alone. ( )
Chapter Overview
Chapter 18
1. Rory and Granda are led to a caravan and a large camper van. They meet Tyrone who introduces his
mother.
2. Rory finds out that they have been on television every night as on the run.
3. Rory learns that Tyrone’s family is out to help them as both their families seem to share the same
predicament. Tyrone is the same age as Rory and his family too has been visited by social workers
who doubt that Tyrone is being well looked after by his own family. Similar to Rory, Tyrone too has the
frequent horrible feeling that he will be separated from his parents.
4. Sammy, Tyrone’s father, starts up his van and drives them out of the caravan site and away from the
police.
Chapter 19
5. The van is parked in a lay-by, well away from the road. Rory and his grandfather wake up to
breakfast.
6. Sammy announces that they are going up north the next day to meet up with his family. It is also safer
for Rory and Granda. Another caravan has travelled south to deflect attention away from their
caravan.
7. Rory finds that they are in the television news again, the top story in the Scottish news. Val appears
on television to appeal for them to get in touch and so does Darren’s mother. This causes Rory to
wonder if he is doing the right thing for his grandfather, by running away. However, Granda is
adamant that he will never go back.
Chapters 18 and 19
1. Rory ponders whether he is doing any harm to Granda by running away together. ( )
2. Sammy reveals that they are going up north the next day to meet up with his family. ( )
3. Tyrone tells Rory and Granda that they have been in the news every night. ( )
4. Darren’s mother appears on television to explain that her son has helped Rory. ( )
5. Rory and his grandfather wake up to breakfast prepared by Ruby. ( )
6. Val Jessup comes on television to appeal to Rory and Granda to get in touch. ( )
7. Rory and Granda are led to a caravan and a large camper van. ( )
8. Sammy drives his van and caravan out of the caravan site. ( )
are False.
1. Ruby’s caravan is as luxurious as Darren’s mother’s. ( )

2. Granda admits to Ruby that he was not friendly to Sammy when they first met. ( )
3. Social workers have shown distrust that Tyrone is being educated. ( )
4. Tyrone shares the same fear as Rory that he may be separated from his loved ones. ( )
5. Sammy drives his caravan smoothly through the police blockade. ( )
6. Grands behaves charmingly towards Ruby. ( )
7. The news report portrays both Rory and Granda as helpless. ( )
8. Granda declares that he rather be free than go into a home. ( )
9. Sammy plans to drive Rory and Granda down south to escape the authority. ( )
10. Darren’s mother blames him for giving the spare key to Rory. ( )
Chapter Overview
Chapter 20
1. The caravan travels on the country roads instead of the motorway. As they move through tiny
villages, Rory discovers posters outside little newsagents bearing newspaper headlines about him
and Granda. He worries that they will get Sammy’s family into trouble. Sammy brushes off his fear.
2. Rory tries to pay Ruby for putting up with them and this annoys Ruby who remarks that it will be
terribly sad if people cannot help one another without getting paid for it. Rory feels embarrassed
about how he has misjudged travellers like Ruby and her family.
3. The caravan reaches the outskirts of Forfar and Sammy’s family and his brother’s reunite. Tyrone
meets his cousin, Zara. Bernie, Sammy’s brother, reminds Rory that the search is widening for him
and his grandfather. They need to think of the next course of action.
Chapter 21
4. It is Zara’s birthday feast. Everyone sings and dances including Granda and Rory.
5. Ruby who does not sing is goof at telling fortunes. Granda asks her to tell Rory’s future. She tells
Rory that his life is an adventure, that he will meet people who will help him but there are also people
whom he cannot trust. She adds that when Rory finds the something that he is looking for, his life will
change but she warns him of a terrible sadness that will befall him before that.
6. Rory asks Ruby about Granda but does not get to hear what Ruby has to say about whether Granda
will be alright or not.
Chapters 20 and 21
1. In tiny villages, posters outside little newsagents carry newspaper headlines about Rory and Granda.
( )
2. Ruby looks into Rory’s future and says his life is an adventure. ( )
3. The caravan moves along on the country roads instead of the motorway. ( )
4. Bernie warns that the authority is seriously looking for Rory and Granda. ( )
5. The caravan reaches the outskirts of Forfar where Sammy meets his brother’s family. ( )
6. Rory wants to pay Ruby for putting up with them. ( )
7. Rory worries that they will get Sammy’s family into trouble. ( )
8. Everyone sings and dances at Zara’s birthday party. ( )
are False.
1. Sammy is not worried that he is helping Rory and Granda on the run. ( )
2. Rory feels bad that he has been hostile to and judgmental about travellers before. ( )
3. Sammy drives his caravan on country roads passing through villages. ( )
4. Ruby reluctantly accepts some money from Rory for taking them in. ( )
5. Bernie wants Rory and Granda to make immediate plans to escape. ( )
6. Rory is regretful when he sees Granda dancing at Zara’s party. ( )
7. Ruby warns Rory of future dangers in his life. ( )
8. Ruby thinks that sadness will befall Granda soon. ( )
9. Granda thinks life is an adventure. ( )
10. Ruby has the gift of predicting the future. ( )
Chapter Overview
Chapter 22
1. Rory and his grandfather are in the news on television. It is discovered that they have both left the
park at the same time as the travellers. When Rory realises that the police will be looking for Tyrone’s
family, he decides that they have to leave. He also sees on the news that his actions of running away
with his Granda is both applauded and criticised.
2. Bernie and Sammy suggest that Rory and Granda should go to Glasgow by train as they have family
there who will give them shelter until they move on. Ruby says her cousin will meet them at the
Queen Street Station.
3. It is decided that Rory and Granda should travel separately, in different carriages, to avoid detection.
Both Rory and Granda are reluctant to leave Tyrone’s family and both parties say goodbye with heavy
hearts. Granda regrets that he calls the family “tinkers”.
Chapter 23
4. Rory and Granda sit separately on the train. Rory spots a woman looking at him suspiciously. He
decides that they should get off before Glasgow and eventually get off at Perth. They manage to get
away from the woman who remains on the train.
5. At the Perth station, while waiting for Granda who has gone to the washroom, Rory comes face to
face with a youth who has recognised them on the train. The youth announces that he is going to turn
both of them in to get a reward. Rory tries to get out of the situation by lying that Granda is still on the
train to Glasgow. As the youth continues to threaten Rory, he is suddenly hit across the head with a
bottle by Granda who has heard their exchange whilst standing in the dark.
6. As the youth lies unconscious on the ground, Rory and Granda prepare to get away. Granda
announces that he knows where they are going next and he is going to steal a car to get there.
Chapters 22 and 23
1. Rory and Granda will go to Glasgow by train. ( )

2. Rory decides to leave Tyrone’s family when he realises that the police will be looking for them. ( )
3. A youth confronts Rory and threatens to report him and Granda to the police. ( )
4. They decide to travel separately, sitting in different carriages. ( )
5. Rory waits while his grandfather goes to the washroom. ( )
6. Rory and Granda get off at Perth station. ( )
7. The police discover that Rory and Granda have left the park at the same time as the travellers.
( )
8. Rory senses a woman looking at them suspiciously. ( )
9. Granda hits the youth with a bottle across his head knocking him unconscious. ( )
10. Granda decides to steal a car for them to continue their run. ( )
are False.
1. The police want the travellers to turn in Rory and Granda. ( )

2. Tyrone wants Rory and Granda to stay with them. ( )
3. There are more people interviewed who think that Rory and Granda should be free. ( )
4. Rory and Granda decide to proceed up north to escape the police. ( )
5. Ruby’s cousin will wait for Rory and Granda at the station to help them move on. ( )
6. Rory thinks that a boy in a baseball cap has recognised them. ( )
7. Rory and Granda get off at Perth station to escape the woman who seems to recognise them. ( )
8. Rory decides to fight off the youth who threatens him. ( )
9. Granda strikes the youth with a bottle. ( )
10. Granda decides where they are going next after hitting the youth out. ( )
Chapter Overview
Chapter 24
1. Granda manages to hot-wire an old blue Corsa left on the roadside.
2. They make it to the back roads leading south.
3. They stop for a rest in a lay-by and Granda slips into deep sleep, leaving Rory to wonder whether the
police will now be after them for using violence to stay on the run.
Chapter 25
4. After their rest, they continue their way down the dark winding country roads. Granda says the car
needs petrol. They drive up to the edge of a tiny village and find a dimly lit petrol station. At the
station, as Rory struggles to look for the petrol cap of the car, the man in the station office comes up
to him.
5. He proceeds to pump in the petrol after Rory indicates the amount he wants. Rory then climbs back
into the car and notices that Granda has fallen asleep.
6. Just as he worries about how to wake Granda up and hot-wire the car in the presence of the man, the
man declares to Rory that they are not leaving the station.
Chapters 24 and 25
1. Granda sleeps as they stop in a lay-by. ( )

2. Rory has trouble looking for the petrol cap. ( )
3. As they drive in the dark, Granda says the car needs petrol. ( )
4. The leave the city and travel on the back roads towards south. ( )
5. Granda finds some music tapes and an atlas in the glove compartment. ( )
6. Rory sees a dimly lit petrol station as they drive up to a tiny village. ( )
7. Granda is able to hot-wire a car and drives off with Rory. ( )
8. The man leans into the car, looks at Granda and says they are not going anywhere that night.
( )
9. The man in the station says he will fill up the petrol tank. ( )
10. Rory tries to wake Granda up to start the car. ( )
are False.
1. Granda used to repair cars when he was young. ( )

2. Granda found a key under the car wheel and starts the car. ( )
3. Rory discovers that his grandfather is a skillful driver. ( )
4. Granda decides that they should catch a boat and go to France. ( )
5. Rory asks the man at the station to fill their petrol tank. ( )
6. Rory believes that they can drive off quickly as soon as he pays for the petrol. ( )
7. The man in the station looks at Rory and recognises him immediately. ( )
8. Granda pretends to snooze as the man fills up the tank. ( )
9. The petrol station man refuses to accept Rory’s money. ( )
10. Rory worries about how Granda can hot-wire the car in front of the man. ( )
Chapter Overview
Chapter 26
1. Rory immediately thinks that they have been discovered only to find out that the man is actually out to
help them. He has recognised them.
2. The man helps Rory to hide the car away and gets them both into his flat above the garage. Granda
is starting to get sick.
3. Rab, the man, switches on the television for the latest news on Rory and Granda. The television
reporter comments on how the public is still very much in support of what Rory and Granda are doing.
Then she mentions that Rory’s father has been traced to Liverpool and that perhaps Rory and
Granda are heading that way.
Chapter 27
4. Since the news about his father in Liverpool, Rory has made plans to go to Liverpool to ask for
money from his father. He decides not to tell his grandfather about it.
5. Rab assures Rory that he will not turn them in to the police. Rab suggests that Rory go to Liverpool to
look up his father.
6. Granda’s health seems to have taken a turn for the worse and he seems confused.
7. Rory decides for sure that they are heading for Liverpool next.
Chapters 26 and 27
1. Rab questions Rory is he really has a father. ( )

2. They push the car to hide it in the garage. ( )
3. The man says he wants to help Rory and Granda. ( )
4. Granda seems to be getting sick as he struggles to breathe. ( )
5. Members of the public seem to have divided opinions whether Rory and Granda are doing the right
thing or not. ( )
6. Rory and Granda are going to Liverpool. ( )
7. The television reporter mentions that they have found Granda’s son in Liverpool. ( )
8. Granda wakes up in the night and gets confused. ( )
9. Rab switches on the television for the latest news on Rory and Granda. ( )
10. Rab suggest that Rory and Granda go to Liverpool. ( )
are False.
1. Rab wants to help Rory and Granda because they are not criminals. ( )
2. Rory is hesitant about receiving help from Rab. ( )
3. Granda’s worsening health condition forces Rory to accept Rab’s offer of a warm place. ( )
4. Rory regrets that he has decided to run off alone with Granda. ( )
5. The news report that the public supports Rory and Granda’s act of running off. ( )
6. Rory’s father in Liverpool is waiting for Rory and Granda to contact him. ( )
7. Rory plans to tell Granda that they are going to his father in Liverpool. ( )
8. Rab says that they can find Rory’s father through the phone book. ( )
9. Granda becomes confused when he learns that they are going to Liverpool. ( )
10. Although Rab seems like a good man, Rory is still wary of him. ( )
Chapter Overview
Chapter 28
1. Rory remains suspicious of Rab when he hears him talking on the phone. It turns out that Rab is
planning to help them, organising a network of people who could take them to Liverpool. He will drive
them himself to the Borders where his girlfriend, Annie, will be waiting to take them on.
2. After almost two hours of driving they meet up with Annie in a lay-by on a deserted stretch of road.
After a hearty lunch, Rory and Granda continue their journey to Liverpool in Annie’s car.
Chapter 29
3. They reach England and Granda notices the welcome sign and asks where they are going. Rory
makes up a reason for going to Liverpool.
4. Annie delivers the duo to her cousin’s remote cottage in the Lake District. The group is warmly
welcomed by Annie’s cousin, Norma. Norma has a daughter, Nicola.
5. Norma voices her concern over Granda’s health and Rory’s ability to care for him.
6. Granda finds out from the television news that his son, Jeff, lives in Liverpool and that is why they are
heading there. He gets angry.
Chapters 28 and 29
1. They meet up with Annie in a lay-by on a quiet stretch of road. ( )

2. Rab arranges for some people to help Rory and Granda reach Liverpool. ( )
3. Rory lies about going to Liverpool and perhaps catching a boat from there. ( )
4. Rab drives Rory and Granda south to the Borders to meet his girlfriend, Annie. ( )
5. Norma introduces Nicola and gives them dinner. ( )
6. Annie drives them to her cousin’s cottage at the Lake District. ( )
7. They reach England and Granda asks where they are heading to. ( )
8. It is dusk when they reach Norma’s house. ( )
9. Granda finds out that they are going to Liverpool to look for his son. ( )
10. Norma thinks that Rory should tell Granda why they are going to Liverpool. ( )
are False.
1. Rab is unable to keep Rory and Granda in his home because his family may tell on them. ( )
2. Rab wants Rory and Granda to get help so that they can get quickly to Liverpool. ( )
3. Annie meets Rab and drives Rory and Granda in her truck to England. ( )
4. Granda and Annie get on famously. ( )
5. Norma is concerned about Granda’s health when she sees him. ( )
6. Norma and her husband plan to drive Rory and Granda to Liverpool. ( )
7. Nicola criticises the authority for going after Rory and Granda and supports their act of running away.
( )
8. Granda is thrilled when he discovers their reason for going to Liverpool. ( )
9. Norma apologises that she is unable to allow Rory and Granda to stay on longer at her home.
( )
Chapter Overview
Chapter 30
1. Granda is livid over his discovery and refuses to go to Liverpool. In order to calm him down, Rory
assures him that they are not going to Liverpool. Rory has his own doubts now whether his father will
actually welcome them if they meet up in Liverpool.
2. Norma is extremely concerned over Granda’s health. She leaves Rory and Granda alone to go into
town with Nicola. Nicola who is as concerned over Granda’s condition leaves Rory a contact number
in the event of an emergency.
3. Dusk falls and Rory gets a call from Nicola that her mother has revealed them to the police who are
coming to get them. They have to get away.
Chapter 31
4. Rory gets Granda ready and once again they are out on the run. Rory decides to take the remote
back roads. AS they climb the hill behind the house two police cars approach Norma’s isolated
cottage.
5. With Granda wheezing even more loudly, they continue their journey in the icy cold darkness and
eventually get onto a road. As they walk along the road, Rory hears a car in the distance. Realising
that it is a police car, they ran for a hedge. They roll into a ditch and manage to hide in time.
6. Rory finds a stone bus shelter close by and he helps Granda there to rest. Granda falls into sleep as
Rory lays him down on the bench. As Rory prepares to wake his grandfather up to move on, he is
shocked to discover that Granda is neither snoring nor breathing. He fears Granda has died.
Chapters 30 and 31
1. They run for the hedge when they hear a car approaching. ( )
2. Norma leaves Rory and Granda alone as she goes into town with Nicola. ( )
3. Rory assures Granda that they are not going to Liverpool which calms him down. ( )
4. Granda falls into a deep sleep and so does Rory. ( )
5. Rory gets a call from Nicola that her mother has reported them to the police. ( )
6. Rory gets Granda ready and they run for the hill behind the house. ( )
7. Two police cars approach Norma’s cottage as Rory and Granda climb the hill. ( )
8. Rory finds a stone bus shelter close by and helps Granda to rest on the bench. ( )
9. They continue in the cold darkness and Rory worries about Granda’s health. ( )
10. Rory wakes up to find that Granda has stopped breathing. ( )
are False.
1. Granda is afraid to see his son again for fear of being rejected by him. ( )
2. Rory promises that they will go to Holland instead of Liverpool. ( )
3. Norma is sincerely worried over Granda’s health. ( )
4. Nicola comes running home to warn Rory that the police are after them. ( )
5. Norma reports Rory and Granda to the police because she is afraid of her husband. ( )
6. Granda becomes more energetic when he learns that they are on the run again. ( )
7. Rory finds a shack for them to rest when Granda can no longer move on. ( )
8. Granda says he prefers to be out in the cold with Rory than be separated from him. ( )
9. Rory watches over his grandfather as he falls asleep. ( )
10. Rory suddenly wakes up to find his grandfather dead. ( )
Chapter Overview
Chapter 32
1. Rory frantically tries to wake Granda up but to no avail. He runs off to look for help and come upon a
house set away from the road. A man opens the door and with him is a woman who recognises Rory
from the news.
2. The man drives Rory to his Granda at the bus shelter while the woman contacts the police.
3. Rory recalls Ruby’s prediction of a terrible sadness and fears the worst.
4. An ambulance arrives to take Granda away and whilst Rory is insisting that he should follow the
ambulance, a policewoman brings along a man who introduces himself as Rory’s father, Jeff.
Chapter 33
5. Granda does not die although he lies seriously ill for days. Rory meets his father’s family and goes to
stay with them whilst Granda is in hospital. He finds out that he has two little sisters.
6. Jeff tries to make up with Rory and Granda. He endeavours to be a good father and a good son.
7. Rory and Granda settle down in Liverpool. They stay in a flat just round the corner from Rory’s
father’s. They get home helps and care workers who look into their needs such as meals and tuck-in
service for Granda at night.
8. Rory feels lucky for he has found a family and he knows that when Granda passes on one day, he will
never ever be alone again. He thinks sometimes of Tess who is not so lucky.
9. Rory keeps in touch with everyone who has helped them on their run, Ruby, Sammy and Tyrone, and
Rab and Annie. He has forgiven Norma for telling on them. He looks forward to seeing Darren during
the holiday.
10. Although Granda remains as forgetful as ever and his health continues to deteriorate, Rory is
nevertheless grateful that they are together and will always be together.
Chapters 32 and 33
1. Rory meets his father’s family and stays with them whilst Granda is in hospital. ( )
2. Rory tries to wake Granda up but he appears lifeless. ( )
3. A man opens the door and with his is a woman who recognises Rory from the news. ( )
4. Rory leads the man to his Granda at the bus shelter while the woman contacts the police. ( )
5. Rory plans to meet up again with everyone who has helped them on their run. ( )
6. He runs off to look for help and comes upon a house set away from the road. ( )
7. Granda does not die although he hovers between life and death for days. ( )
8. Jeff tries to make up with Granda and Rory. ( )
9. An ambulance arrives to take Granda away whilst Rory insists that he should follow the ambulance.
( )
10. Granda and Rory find a flat that is close by Jeff’s. ( )
11. A policewoman brings along a man who introduces himself as Rory’s father, Jeff. ( )
are False.
1. Rory runs back to Norma’s cottage for help as Granda lies lifeless. ( )
2. Granda is breathing when they come back to get him at the bus shelter. ( )
3. Rory accompanies Granda in the ambulance to the hospital. ( )
4. A man comes in a police car and introduces himself as Rory’s father. ( )
5. Rory stays in hospital with Granda before he meets his father’s family and goes home with them.
( )
6. Jeff’s wife, Karen, seems to accept Rory quite readily. ( )
7. Rory discovers that he has two younger step-sisters. ( )
8. Granda likes his daughter-in-law and granddaughters. ( )
9. Jeff explains that he is afraid to contact them when he sees them on the news. ( )
10. Rory and Granda get home helps at their flat when Granda gets out of hospital. ( )
11. Rory understands why Norma calls the police and forgives her. ( )
Characterisation
The main characters are:
• Rory McIntosh
• Granda
The supporting characters are:

• Mrs Foley
• Val Jessup
• Darren and his mother
• Tess
• Sammy, Ruby and Tyrone
• Rab and Annie
• Norma and Nicola
• Jeff McIntosh
Main character: Rory McIntosh
Rory is a teenager who lives with his grandfather, Granda, ever since his father walks out on his mother
and him when he was a baby. He now cares for his aging and ailing Granda. They live by themselves in a
flat without any home help.
Textual
Only child/ Young
evidence
1. “…only Granda and me.” (pg. 3)

2. “…I was all my granda had and…Granda was all I had too.” (pg. 11)
3. His father abandons him and his mother dies soon after “…he got tired of it, he threw it..” (pg. 13)
4. “…only a boy.” (pg. 4)
5. “…a good little footballer…” (pg. 10)
6. “…at your age you should be playing football. You shouldn’t have that kind of …Responsibility…” (pg.
20 – 21)
7. “…just a boy…can’t take the responsibility of your grandfather…” (pg. 52)
Devoted to his grandfather/ Protective
Textual
evidence
1. “…granda had taken care of me all me life … now it was my turn to look after my granda.” (pg. 9)
2. “… remembering nights when my granda had made toffee apples for me … put up Christmas trees …
carried me shoulder high at football matches.” (pg. 23)
3. “Listen, Big Man, … I want him to wake up. I promise …” (pg. 28)
4. “Granda … never let me down …” (pg. 55)
5. “… can behave any way he wants … the best granda in the world.” (pg. 57)
6. “… granda looked just like a little boy … my baby brother, relying on me … just as I’d always relied on
my granda.” (pg. 63)
7. “… I had done this for both of us, so we could be together, the way we were meant to be.” (pg. 67)
8. “I knew … that I would die before I’d let them separate me and my granda …” (pg. 68)
9. “… we’re a team …” (pg. 81)
Textual
Responsible/ Reliable
evidence
10. “… granda never forgot to take his pills, because I made sure he took them” (pg. 1)
11. “… do everything … the shopping and the cooking … cleans the house.” (pg. 4)
12. Sacrifices football to look after Granda
“How would I get to the games … look after my granda?” (pg. 10)
Patient/ Indulgent
Textual
evidence
1. Puts up with Granda’s forgetful antics

“… was caught between pure love for him, trying to help … and exasperation with him.” (pg.
42)
2. Puts up with Granda’s passion for movies and movie stars
“… although he’s driving me potty?” (pg. 22)
“… a film star comes … don’t tell anyone but me.” (pg. 45)
3. Still wishes to be with Granda despite his antics and annoying habits
“… listening to (Granda) sucking his teeth … his hearing aid whistling, annoying … nothing to
be done…” (pg. 31)
Textual
Detests children’s home
evidence
4. “… nightmare was the children’s home at Castle Street.” (pg. 30)
5. “Children’s home … stuff of nightmares.” (pg. 30)
Textual
Decisive/ Determined
evidence
6. “… decided that I wouldn’t bother feeling sorry for (Tess) … But I had to get out of (the children’s
home).” (pg. 44)
2. Decides to run away
“Me and my granda … run away.” (pg. 58)
3. “No matter what, I knew I had done the right thing … I would die before … separate me and my
granda …” (pg. 68)
Textual
Bold/ Brave/ Far-sighted/ Resourceful
evidence
4. “planned … with precision.” (pg. 59)

5. “… putting together my plan, organising …” (pg. 59)
6. Uses emergency door exit (pg. 60 – 61)
7. Makes plans to cover their track
“… if anyone did see us, then that’s where they would look for us first.” (pg. 65)
5. Alights at Perth despite having a one way ticket to Glasgow
“had to get off this train … wasn’t worth the risk.” (pg. 110)
Matured/ Insightful
Textual
evidence
6. Understands Granda’s character and always observant of his moods
“… living with my granda was like having a baby in the house.” (pg. 1)
“… granda will never go into a home. It would kill him.” (pg. 11)
“… wanted him to reassure Mrs Foley that he had all his marbles … to be a struggle.” (pg. 12)
“… never heard my granda talk like that … scared me.” (pg. 57)
“He might breathe and … my granda would be dead.” (pg. 57)
“… as I saw my granda grow more quiet and confused each day.” (pg. 60)
“This was a new Granda … for the moment at least.” (pg. 114)
2. Always observant of how people perceive Granda
“But at that moment … I was worried about my granda … I didn’t like the way …” (pg. 14)
“And it was impossible to miss the glance … A warning bell rang somewhere deep inside me …”
(pg. 27)
3. Of Rachnadar
“… the other inmates wouldn’t hear … but the nurses, the orderlies … were like warders … jailors
…” (pg. 60)
4. Of their escape
“… I knew that soon they would come looking for us …” (pg. 77)
5. When he knows that the police will be looking for Sammy’s family, he decides to leave
immediately
“…have to go.” (pg. 104)
6. Admits how he used to prejudge people
“… I promised … I’d never judge anyone again.” (pg. 97)
7. Thinks his father does not know how to handle Granda which results in their poor relationship
“… he (Rory’s father) just doesn’t know how to handle my granda like I do. You’ve got to throw the
insults right back at him …” (pg. 159)
Textual
Has sense of humour/ Cheeky
evidence
8. “… always embellished stories of Granda … to make them even funnier.” (pg. 7)

2. Views Mrs Foley’s eyebrows cheekily
“… could go on safari in (her) eyebrows.”
3. Always teasing Granda or thinking of him in a humorous way
“… tortoise on crutches could go faster.” (pg. 112)
“… pretended to pull out (his teeth) … here, have … these.” (pg. 152)
“… got to throw the insults right back at him …” (pg. 159)
Main character: Granda
Granda has looked after Rory since he was small. Now Rory looks after him as his physical and mental
health deteriorates. Granda prefers to stay alone with Rory rather than going into a home for the old. When
he was young, Granda learnt how to fish. He was a motor mechanic and owned a Morris Minor once.
Attached to Rory/ Doting

Textual
evidence
1. “The only son I’ve got now is you … I don’t need anybody else …” (pg. 14)
2. “I’d rather be here in this cold bus shelter with you … want us to stay together as long as we can. (pg.
152)
Textual
Old/ Ailing/ Sickly
evidence
3. “… on heart pills, head pills, pills to make me go to the toilet, pills to stop me going to the toilet.” (pg. 1)
4. “… with his sparse grey hair and … wrinkles.” (pg. 15)
5. “… grinned toothlessly.” (pg. 23)
6. “… because he’s deaf … got his hearing aid.” (pg. 38)
7. “… has been assessed … just not fit enough …” (pg. 53)
8. “… granda’s exhausted panting …” (pg. 65)
9. Health continues to deteriorate
“Since my granda came back from the dead … his memory is worse … the damage that was done
to his lungs is ‘irreparable’. (pg. 161)
Erratic
Textual
evidence
1. “… living with my granda was like having a baby …” (pg. 1)

2. “… found the (fire incident) funny and exciting, the way a boy would. (pg. 18)
3. “… never heard my granda talk like that … it scared me.” (pg. 57)
4. “… behave yourself … not helping … you naughty boy.” (pg. 57)
5. “This was a new Granda – in command, sure of himself, for the moment …” (pg. 114)
Textual
Suffers memory lapses/ Forgetful
evidence
6. “… his shoes in the fridge and the milk at the bottom of the wardrobe…” (pg. 5)
7. “… didn’t look like … not my jotter … bag of eggshells and potato peelings all neatly tied up.” (pg. 6)
8. “… Granda had peeled a bag of apples … cut them into chips.” (pg. 12)
9. “… wasn’t the first time that he’d left the electric ring switched on …” (pg. 12)
10. “… forgot to pull up his zip … when we went into town.” (pg. 16)
11. “… came out of the toilet and just went home … when we went to the cinema.” (pg. 16)
12. “You’re on fire … Smoke was belching …” (pg. 2 -3)
13. “… left the chip pan on … forgot about it.” (pg. 25)
14. “… looking for potatoes … rummaging in the wardrobe for them …” (pg. 39)
15. “ … told me that John Wayne had been in to visit him …” (pg. 45)
16. “ … he tried to microwave his shoe one night … and insisted Humphrey Bogart had got shot in our
bathroom.” (pg. 76)
17. “… granda muttering away … John Wayne popped in regularly … my granny (too).” (pg. 76)
18. “… found his hearing aid (stuffed into a smelly sock) …” (pg. 106)
Helpless
Textual
evidence
1. “… Granda relied on me … his lunch every day.” (pg. 9)

2. “… granda looked just like a little boy … relying on me to make things better …” (pg. 63)
Textual
Spirited/ Feisty
evidence
3. Hates old folk’s home

“… granda will never go into a home … would kill him.” (pg. 11)
“Shoot me before you put me in there …” (pg. 11)
“… Granda’s nightmare was Rachnadar …” (pg. 30)
“Don’t let me stay there … old folk that nobody wants.” (pg. 54)
2. “He’s made of strong stuff…” (pg. 27)
3. “… would take more than a load of old smoke to kill me.” (pg. 39)
4. “No grandson … going to Castle Street … while I’m alive.” (pg. 40)
5. “… rather die of cold and hunger, and be free!” (pg. 93)
6. “… still clutching a lemonade bottle … Well, I’m not that daft.” (pg. 113)
7. “Ready for anything …” (pg. 150)
Passionate about movies
Textual
evidence
1. “…one thing my granda knew all about … films.” (pg. 2)

2. Always comparing people to and talking about movie stars
“… that Val Jessup … of Grace Kelly.” (pg. 22)
“… reminds me of Rhonda Fleming.” (pg. 51)
“… wouldn’t say that to Sean Connery.” (pg. 52)
“I feel just like … Humphrey Bogart…” (pg. 80)
“… was called after a film star!” (pg. 94)
Textual
Gentlemanly/ Charming
evidence
3. “… always the gentleman …” (pg. 2)
4. Charms ladies
“… would be lovely, sweetheart…” (pg. 90)
“You’re gorgeous … was the first thing my granda said to her.” (pg. 140)
Supporting Character: Darren
Darren is Rory’s “best pal”. They attend the same school. He offers Rory the solution to where he and his
grandfather should run off to, and gives him the spare key to his mother’s caravan. He also alerts Rory
when they are discovered by the police.
Textual
Darren’s mother
evidence
1. “… always had something to say … but I liked her, … she liked me.” (pg. 20)
2. Concerned about Rory
“… worries my mum … at your age you should be playing football … shouldn’t have that kind of …
Responsibility.” (pg. 20 – 21)
3. Has a luxury caravan in a secluded area in which Rory and Granda hid for a while during their
Great Escape
“Darren’s mum’s caravan … secluded spot …” (pg. 66)
Supporting Character: Mrs Foley
Mrs Foley is Rory’s teacher in school. She is new in school, only being there for a term.
Textual
Distinct appearance
evidence
1. “… her massive eyebrows … could go on safari in Mrs Foley’s eyebrows.” (pg. 7 – 8)

2. “… had a moustache … She was one hairy woman.” (pg. 8)
3. “… dead posh … dead holy” (pg. 12)
Concerned
Textual
evidence
4. Treats Rory very well
“… asking me every morning how I was, always insisting that I tell her anything that might be
bothering me …” (pg. 47)
“… organised flowers to be sent to my granda …” (pg. 47)
“… nice woman … she’ll probably want to foster you.” (pg. 48)
Supporting Character: Val Jessup
She is a social worker who is sent by Dr Nicol, the family doctor, to visit Rory and Granda. She is Rory’s
social worker while Granda is in hospital.
Textual
Youthful
evidence
1. “… bright-eyed, with clear skin and no make-up and shiny hair tied up in a ponytail.” (pg. 21)
2. “… has really unusual grey eyes, like smoked silver…” (pg. 52)
Textual
Enthusiastic/ Eager
evidence
3. “… full of enthusiasm about ways to help us.” (pg. 21)
Pleasant
Textual
evidence
1. “… seems a nice girl …” (pg. 22)
Supporting Character: Tess
Tess is a troubled girl who lives at the children’s home at Castle Street and is unlike the other children.
Her mother is in jail and nobody wants to foster her, not even her aunts, which is why she is in the home.
Due to her temperament, she is treated differently from the other children who live at the home.
Textual
evidence
Uncontrollable
1. “… mad. Totally off the wall … never know what she’s going to do next.” (pg. 34)
2. “… like a wild animal …” (pg. 44)
Textual
evidence
Aggressive/ Violent/ Destructive/ Abusive
3. “… goes berserk whenever they turn the television off …” (pg. 34)
4. “… flew into the kitchen like a tornado.” (pg. 34)
5. “… kicked at the table … mugs tumbling and tea spilling .. If I’m not sitting, nobody is.” (pg. 35)
6. “… the monster, Tess …” (pg. 37)
7. “… Nellie, sat close beside her … to grab her before she reached out to wallop one of us.” (pg. 37)
8. “Her anger, her violence … Scared us all.” (pg. 43)
9. “… she called me a few things worse than a weasel … strangle me.” (pg. 44)
10. “She wasn’t even an animal … some strange alien creature no one could communicate … to destroy
like on earth!” (pg. 47)
11. Always trying to attack Rory
“made a dive towards me …” (pg. 34)
“… grow angrier and always with me …” (pg. 43)
“… grabbed hold of my shirt … choking me …” (pg. 55 -56)
Disturbed
Textual
evidence
1. “… the type that’ll always find something to be angry about.” (pg. 35)
2. “She’s her own worst enemy .. She’s sad .. You should feel sorry for her.” (pg. 44)
3. “… scared of being alone.” (pg. 160)
Supporting Characters: Sammy, Ruby & Tyrone, the Travellers
Sammy rescues Rory and Granda when they are hiding in the bushes at the caravan site. He takes
them back to his caravan to meet his wife, Ruby. His son, Tyrone, is the same age as Rory. They are
travellers who move from place to place. Sammy is a handyman and does odd jobs. He succeeds in
getting Rory and Granda out of the caravan site. He drives them up north to meet his brother, Bernie, who
is as ready to help Rory and Granda.
Textual
Good-hearted
evidence
1. Ruby and Sammy understand Rory and Granda’s plight and are eager to help them
“… if you needed help, we’d help you.” (pg. 85)
“… it was the boy we were thinking about.” (pg. 85)
“… we can’t leave them there. We’ve got to help.” (pg. 89)
2. Sammy overlooks Granda’s hostility when they first meet
“… he’s an old man. My pa was the same …” (pg. 89)
3. They try to ensure that Rory and Granda’s escape is smooth
“… we’re moving off tomorrow. Up north … The other caravan went another way … just in case
we’d been followed.” (pg. 91)
“We have family in Glasgow … Give you shelter till you move on …” (pg. 106)
4. Ruby refuses Rory’s offer of payment for looking after them
“Keep the money … a sad day when someone can’t lend a helping hand without getting paid for
it.” (pg. 96)
Caring
Textual
evidence
1. “… felt they were family now … cared about them, and they cared about me and my granda.” (pg.
108)
Supporting Character: Rab
Rab is the man at the petrol station who helps Rory to decide that he should find his father. He
drives them to the Borders to his girlfriend, Annie, who in turn drives them over to England.
Textual
Kind
evidence
1. Offers Rory and Granda the warmth of his flat when he recognises them
“… I want to help.” (pg. 124)
“… get that Granda of yours into the warm.” (pg. 124)
2. Arranges for people to help Rory and Granda reach Liverpool
“… drive you … at the Borders … Annie.” (pg. 134)
“… I was on the phone arranging … to Liverpool.” (pg. 135)
“… gets all organised, a chain of people taking you to safety.” (pg. 139)
3. Makes Granda believe again that there is still kindness in this world
“People are kind … meet kindness like this… wonderful world…” (pg. 135)
Supporting Character: Norma
Norma is Annie’s rich cousin who put up Rory and Granda at her isolated cottage in the Lake
District. She can only allow them to stay one night as her husband who will return the next day is likely to
disapprove her action. She has a daughter, Nicola, who alerts Rory when Norma reports them to the
police.
Textual
Concerned
evidence
1. “Norma … worried … You’ve taken on too much … He’s an old man … doesn’t look well.” (pg. 142)
2. “Genuinely concerned ..; felt his brow … pulse …” (pg. 145)
3. “… Norma … She’s a really nice person … was worried about my granda, that’s why she went to the
police …” (pg. 160)
Supporting Character: Jeff McIntosh
He is Rory’s father who abandons both his wife and baby son. He eventually reconciles with Granda
and Rory who live close to him when Granda recovers from his ‘dead’ incident. He lives in Liverpool with
his wife, Karen and two daughters, Rhonda and Ava. Prior to this, Karen is unaware that he has a father
and a son.
Textual
Irresponsible
evidence
1. “… a spoiled brat … Anything he wanted he got … he threw it aside … he did the same thing with
your mother.” (pg. 13)
Textual
Has a poor relationship with his father
evidence
2. “When he left … I told him never to come back … washed my hands off him …” (pg. 13)
3. “he just doesn’t know how to handle my granda …” (pg. 159)
4. “… scared to come back because my dad said he hated me. Didn’t want to see me …” (pg. 159)
Reunites with his father (Granda) and son (Rory)

Textual
evidence
5. “… I’m your dad …” (pg. 157)
6. “… as soon as I saw the two of you … got in touch …” (pg. 159)
• Theme
• Language and Style
• Point of View
• Moral Values/ Messages
Theme
True love is unconditional
The main theme of the novel is love and sacrifice. Values that essentially hold the family unit
together. Rory’s love for his grandfather, Granda, is unconditional. He loves Granda regardless of his
foibles or ridiculous actions. He will do anything to care for Granda, and to make him happy. Granda is all
he has. Granda has cared for him since he was a baby and now it is his turn to look after Granda.
Rory sacrifices his love for football so that he has time to care for Granda. He defies Mrs Foley’s
order to stay back after school as punishment for not submitting his homework. Instead, he runs home to
prepare lunch for Granda. He may be frustrated with Granda’s infuriating habits but he indulges him.
Granda in turn loves Rory as much. Rory and Granda prefer to sacrifice the safety and physical
warmth of their children’s and old folk’s homes respectively, and Granda prefers to suffer the pain of his
wheezing, to be on the run so that they can be together. Granda says that he rather be in the cold bus
shelter with Rory than anywhere else in the world as he wants them to stay together as long as they can.
Similarly, Tyrone grows up a normal and happy boy in the loving embrace of his family. Like Rory, he
too rather dies than be separated from his family. In contrast, Tess is not loved. Her love is in jail and no
one, not even her own aunts want her. Deprived of love, she becomes a troubled child. She tums verbally
abusive and physically violent towards anyone who comes her way.
Theme
Forgive and forget
The theme of forgiveness is implicit. Forgiveness is an important element in a relationship and in the
family. Forgiveness is necessary if people are to rebuild relationships and move on.
Rory and Granda find that they only have each other because Granda has chased away his only
son, Jeff, and refused to take him back. If he has forgiven his son, for his youthful foolishness as a spoilt
irresponsible man, he will have both Jeff and Rory as family. Jeff, however, is afraid to go back to his
father because he believes his father hates him and does not want to see him again.
Do not be afraid to follow your conscience

Another theme is not to be afraid to do what feels right. Sammy and his family rescue Rory and
Granda and offer them a safe refuge because they believe that Rory and his grandfather should be
together. Sammy even overlooks the fact that Granda has looked down on him before and called his
family, “tinkers”. Similarly, Rab helps them because he feels that Rory and Granda should be together.
Even Norma attempts to help despite knowing that her husband may disapprove of her action.
Ironically, it is her feeling that she is doing the right thing that prompts her to report Rory and Granda to
the police.
Conflict/ Struggle between the individual and the authority

Another theme highlighted is the conflict between the authority or social system and the individual.
Val Jessup is the social worker who represents the authority that places the old and aged, and orphaned
and abandoned children in homes when they are unfit to look after themselves or have no one to look
after them, because that is the system.
Rory and Granda struggle against the authority or system, that is, against the system that puts them
separately into homes because they are found unfit to look after themselves by virtue of their age, health
and circumstances. They choose to run away because the system only separates them and the
Theme
authority is unable to understand or care about the emotional bond between them.
Darren’s mother represents the segment of society that conforms to and thinks as the authority.
However, the other segment of society including people like Sammy, Ruby and Rab oppose the system
and believe that Rory and Granda should not be separated.
Insensitivity of society in the care of its old

Society is portrayed as caring and will place the aged in homes when it is considered that they are
no longer able to look after themselves or have no one to care for them. However, the caring stops there.
There are homes that are operated like prisons where the wardens are detached and the inmates move
“with dead eyes … going nowhere” and Rory knows that Granda “might breathe and walk and eat, but
inside, (he) would be dead”.
Granda says that putting the old in homes would never have happened in his younger days as
people cared about each other and looked out for each other. Nowadays, they only care about
themselves.
Treat the old with dignity and sensitivity

Rory’s sensitivity to Granda’s adverse feeling of old folk’s home overrules his desire to be free like
any young boy, for example, to have time for football. Granda’s outburst about “ungrateful children”, how
“you work all your life for them and they turn their back on you” reminds us of children who leave their
aged parents in old folk’s homes.
Theme
Give without expecting any returns
Ruby puts it in the best way, “… it’s a sad day when someone can’t lend a helping hand without getting
paid for it.” Ruby and her family help Rory and Granda on their run because they believe in what they are
doing and do not expect anything in return. Rab also helps them and even arranges for friends to do so
because he feels, just like some of the others, that they should be together. Norma too helps them without
expecting anything in return, in fact does it behind her husband’s back knowing he may be disapprove of
what she does.
Do not label people

Granda is quick to judge when he first meets Sammy and Tyrone. He terms them “tinkers” whom he
does not trust and does not like. When he first speaks to Ruby, he does so in an almost derogatory manner
by using the phrase “the likes of you”.
Rory admits that he has acted harshly before when dealing with “travellers”. He recalls slamming the
doors on them when they come selling their wares. He then promises not to judge everyone in the same
light.
In a turn of event, it is Sammy who goes to their rescue when they hide from the police. And when it is
time for Rory and Granda to leave Sammy’s family, Rory and Granda feel like they are leaving behind their
own family as they become close with them in just a day.
Home care versus care at home

A minor theme highlights the benefits of being cared for at home versus being cared for in a home.
Granda is adamant that he is happier being taken care of at his own home than in a home for the aged.
Homes for the aged and the sick like Rachnadar are portrayed as soulless with staff going about their duties
as a matter of fact, minus any personal touch or concern. In the end, we see Granda and Rory settling down
nicely and happily in Liverpool in their own flat, receiving regular home helps and care workers.
Language & Style
The author uses simple language and words to convey actions and feelings. The language is also
colloquial using words or slangs like ‘lassie’, ‘tinkers’, ‘lavvy’, and ‘nicked’. The style is informal and
conversational.
She uses contrast to set off characters such as Rory against Tess to bring out positive and negative
characteristics. Similarly, she sets some members of the public against the authority to convey the
diversity in opinions on issues like the failure of the community, importance of family and priorities of
society.
Humour is a common element used and it adds poignancy to Granda’s worsening health even as
the readers laugh at his forgetful antics. Images are used, for example, movie stars and movie stars to
enhance Granda’s memory lapses and erratic behaviour; Rachnadar painted as ‘dark and forbidding’
suggests its cold and unfriendly atmosphere.
Suspense or an anticipation of what is to come pricks the reader’s imagination and urges the reader
to read on, for example, when Rory first meets Rab and is suspicious of him – will Rab turn out to be
friend or foe?
Point of View
Rory McIntosh is the protagonist through which people and events in the novel are viewed. The
readers know all his thoughts and opinions. The author uses the first person point of view narration.
Moral Values/ Messages
It pays to be determined
Both Rory and Granda show tremendous determination and resolve to stay together, braving the
elements, enduring the physical discomfort and overcoming hostile people and betrayal.
Give unconditionally
People like Sammy and Ruby, Rab and even Norma help Rory and Granda on their run without expect
any payment or returns. They do it because it is the right thing to do to enable two persons who care for
each other to stay together.
Empathise with the aged and sick

Caring comes in many forms such as providing a home for the aged and sick. It is not enough to be
compassionate. We need to be empathetic in order to truly understand how they feel and what they
desire in their old age. We need to treat them with more dignity and respect.
Providing is not caring

The authority provides homes for the aged, the orphaned, and others, but it does not mean they care.
Rachnadar may be equipped and staffed with doctors and nurses but these people are indifferent and
behave distantly. The inmates move about mindlessly. There is no warmth in the home. Rory may not be
able to provide sufficiently for Granda when they run away but he is still all that his Granda needs to want
to live on.
Moral Values/ Messages
Forgive and forget
If Granda has forgiven his son, Jeff, for what he has done to Rory and his mother, he would have reunited
with Jeff a long time ago. Rory and Granda will not have to endure their separation and be on the run to
be together.
To love is to sacrifice
Rory is prepared to sacrifice his boyhood to care for Granda. At an age when he should be enjoying
himself at play, he has to care for his grandfather and look after their home. He has no time for football
because he needs to look after Granda. He readily gives up school to run away so that he and Granda
can stay together.
Do not be afraid to do what is right

Rory and Granda run away together even though they know it is the wrong thing to do in the eyes of the
authority. It may not be the best thing to do because of Granda’s health but Rory knows that keeping
Granda in a home may just kill him first! People who help them like Sammy, Ruby and Rab on their run
are not afraid to do so because they believe it is the best thing to do for a grandfather and his grandson
who want to be together.
Do not be judgmental
It is difficult not to be judgmental. We are always forming opinions about people based on personal
experience or hearsay. Travellers like Sammy’s family are seen as untrustworthy. If one does not
understand Tess’s unfortunate background, one will condemn her hostility and aggressiveness which is
the result of her deprived background, being neglected and unwanted.
• Plot Summary
Elements of the Novel
Plot
The plot of a novel is a chain or series of events that make up the story.
Exposition Rising Action
The start of the story, where the setting, A related series of incidents in the story
characters and some early events are that build towards the point of interest.
introduced. The many experiences that both Rory
Rory’s life with his grandfather is the backdrop and his grandfather go through in their
for the story that is to unfold. It highlights the little respective homes and their moments of
mistakes that foreshadow what is to come – the anguish help Rory to make up his mind.
fire, which brings about a turn of events.
Climax
The point of greatest interest in the story and is usually the most important incident.
Rory and his grandfather run away – pursued by the authorities who wish to do the right thing for them; the
two swear that nothing is going to stand in their way of freedom.
Resolution
Falling Action The end of the story where conflict is
The turning point in the story where any resolved.
earlier conflict is unravelled. Rory’s father comes back into the picture
Granda’s illness makes Rory decide to and takes his place as father to Rory and
seek help and thereby abort his plan of son to Granda. The family is together
escape. again.
Plot
Patterns of Events
Pattern Key Events
Exposition Granda sets himself on fire accidentally during his routine health check up.
Granda makes the same mistake at Rory’s Parents’ Night. A third fire at the
flat puts Granda in the hospital and Rory in the children’s home, much to the
dismay of both.
Rising Action Both Granda and Rory are miserable and feel that they have let each other
down. Rory decides to run away and gets the help of Darren, his friend who
offers his mother’s caravan as a hideout.
Climax Granda and Rory are only happy for a short time at the caravan before the
authorities go after them. They are on the move again.
Falling Action A series of adventures take place as the runaways move across Scotland to
England where Rory’s father lives. The media gives them a lot of attention and
the public discuss their plight.
Resolution Granda finds the great escape very stressful and falls ill. Rory gets help from a
stranger. Rory’s father comes back into his life. Granda gets well and accepts
him son and new family. Rory is happy.
Sequence of Events
One event leads to another in a pattern of cause and effect in the novel. This series of events make up
the plot of the story.
Example
Granda sets the flat on fire while attempting to make chips. He is taken to the hospital.
Rory cannot stay alone in the flat and is sent to the children’s home in Castle Street. Granda is
dangerous to himself and to others. He is sent to the old folks’ home, Rachnadar.
The two cannot bear the thought of separation and the fact that they are in homes. Rory
decides on an escape plan and they run away together.
Plot Summary
Events Leading to the Great Escape
1. Granda is sickly and also prone to forgetfulness. Knowing that Granda has only Rory to look after him
and Rory is only a young boy who has to do everything at home besides looking after Granda, Dr
Nicol plans to get a home help for Rory and Granda.
2. Granda’s memory lapse causes Rory to lose his homework. Rory faces his teacher, Mrs Foley, with
an excuse for not turning in his homework.
3. Rory tries to coach Granda on his behaviour for Parents’ Night. He gets increasingly worried about
Granda’s forgetfulness. Granda leaves the pot to burn out again because he has forgotten to switch
off the electric ring.
4. Granda accompanies Rory to Parents’ Night. In the classroom Granda’s coat hung on the hook
catches fire from the smouldering pipe left in the pocket, and the water thrown to put out the fire ruins
Mrs Foley’s coat as well.
5. Rory and Granda are visited by Val Jessup, a social worker sent by Dr Nicol. Rory dreams that she
will get them a home help who could help care for Granda. With this, Rory will have his time off to join
the football team again.
6. Granda starts a fire in the flat when he forgets to take the chip pan off. He is taken to the hospital
suffering from smoke inhalation.
7. Granda is still unconscious in hospital and Val Jessup tells Rory that he has to stay at a children’s
home at Castle Street.
8. Rory is warmly welcomed at the children’s home by some of the children. However, he meets Tess
who is abusive and aggressive.
9. Granda is extremely distressed to learn that Rory has to stay at a children’s home while he is in
hospital. He vows to get out of the hospital the next day.
10. Rory goes to the flat to collect his clothes for his stay at Castle Street and he decides to take along
Granda’s pills as well.
Plot Summary
11. Rory learns that Mrs Foley may want to foster him, a thought which terrifies him.
12. After school, Rory runs off to the hospital to Granda and panics when he sees an empty bed and he
thinks that Granda has died.
13. Granda is taken to Rachnadar, the hospital for old people. Rory arrives at Rachnadar to find Granda
sitting on the bed sobbing.
14. Granda is tormented that he has to stay at Rachnadar and has caused Rory to go to the children’s
home.
15. Rory is equally distraught goes back to Castle Street to be cursed at and attacked by Tess.
16. Rory is filled with despair when he sees that Granda is getting more depressed and withdrawn at
Rachnadar. Things are no better at Castle Street when he finds Tony with a scratched and bleeding
cheek, Tess’ doing.
17. Rory decides that he and Granda are going to run away.
18. Darren offers a solution to Rory’s Great Escape with Granda. He gives them the spare key to his
mother’s caravan parked in a secluded area.
19. Following his plan, Rory visit Granda one night and quietly gets him ready as they prepare to sneak
out of Rachnadar.
20. Rory and Granda slip away from Rachnadar and head for the train station.
Plot Summary
On the Run
21. Rory and Granda ride the train and head for the caravan site.
22. They are pleasantly surprised to find that the caravan is indeed located in an isolated area and is well
stocked too.
23. Rory and Granda enjoy a leisurely day at the caravan site, taking a walk and fishing.
24. They encounter Tyrone and his father as they suddenly emerge through the undergrowth and Granda
chases them off and calls them “tinkers”.
25. A few days later, Rory receives an urgent text message from Darren to leave immediately as they
have been traced.
26. They leave hastily in the cold darkness and hide in the bushes when a police car passes by.
27. Rory sees that the entrance to the park is blocked by police cars and that the police are spreading
out to look for them.
28. He sees some of them head straight towards him and Granda, and he panics. Suddenly he feels
someone clamps a hand round his mouth. Another man has his hand round Granda’s mouth.
29. It turns out to be Tyrone’s father, Sammy, who states that he is there to help them and takes them
back to his caravan.
30. Rory and Granda meet Tyrone again and his mother, Ruby, who readily welcomes them.
31. Sammy manages to drive his camper can and caravan out of the park and away from the police.
32. Rory learns that they are in the television news every night as on the run. Sammy plans to help them
get as far away as possible.
33. The caravan moves up north along country roads through Perthshire to meet with Sammy’s brother’
Bernie, on the outskirt of Forfar to celebrate his niece, Zara’s birthday.
34. Rory finds posters of him and Granda at every newsagent throughout the tiny villages that they pass
through.
Plot Summary
35. Bernie tells Rory that he and Granda have to move on as the police are intensifying their search for
him.
36. At Zara’s birthday, Ruby tells Rory his future. She says his life is an adventure and that he will find
what he seeks although he will encounter grief before that.
37. When Rory decides that it is time for them to leave, Sammy and Bernie suggest that they head for
Glasgow where Ruby’s cousin will be there to meet and help them.
38. Rory and Granda decide to travel separately on the train, sitting away from each other.
39. Rory notices a woman looking suspiciously at both of them and decides to alight at Perth Station.
40. While waiting for Granda who has gone to the washroom, Rory is confronted by a youth who has
recognised them on the train. The youth threatens to report them to the police.
41. Suddenly the youth is hit with a bottle across his head by Granda who has heard the youth call him
‘daft’. Granda feels offended.
42. Leaving the unconscious youth behind, Granda looks for a car to steal for them to get away.
43. Granda steals an old blue Corsa and they drive off until afternoon when they stop in a lay-by to rest.
44. Granda drives on happily down the dark winding country roads listening to some tapes they find in
the glove compartment.
45. They need to stop the car for petrol and come across a dimly lit petrol station.
46. As Rory searches for the petrol cap to fill up petrol, the man in the station comes up to him and
questions him.
47. Rory tries to get off with an excuse about Granda having a bad leg forcing him to stay in the car. The
man takes over and fills the tank up.
48. He then turns to Rory and tells him that both he and Granda are going to stay put for the night.
49. He recognises both of them and offers to put them up for the night at his place.
Plot Summary
50. The latest news on television again features Rory and Granda. The reporter mentions that Rory’s
father has been traced to Liverpool and perhaps Rory and Granda are on their way there.
51. Rab, the man at the petrol station, tells Rory that he has arranged for some people to help them go to
Liverpool.
52. He drives them to the Borders to meet his girlfriend, Annie, who will take them to her cousin’s home in
the Lake District en route to Liverpool.
53. Rory and Granda put up at Norma’s house for the night before they move on again the next day.
54. Granda is furious when he learns from television that his son is in Liverpool and that is why they are
heading there.
55. Norma expresses deep concern over Granda’s health and whether Rory and he can move on with his
serious wheezing.
56. She leaves Rory and Granda in the house while she heads for town with her daughter, Nicola.
57. Rory receives a telephone call from Nicola that her mother has reported them to the police.
58. Rory quickly gets Granda ready and they leave the house just as two police cars wind they way along
the main road heading for Norma’s cottage.
59. With Granda wheezing badly, they proceed in the icy cold darkness.
60. They ran for a hedge and roll into a ditch to escape an approaching police car.
61. When the police car has disappeared, Rory looks for a place to allow Granda to rest. He finds a stone
bus shelter.
62. Granda looks poorly as he lays himself on the bench to sleep.
63. Rory awakes in the night to find that Granda has stopped breathing.
64. Rory runs desperately in search of the nearest house for help.
65. The woman at the house recognises him. Rory leads her husband back to help Granda while she
calls for the police.
Plot Summary
66. An ambulance arrives to take Granda to the hospital. Rory who is in a police car insists on following
the ambulance.
67. The policewoman introduces Rory to a man who announces that he is Rory’s father, Jeff.
68. Granda is alive and Rory gets to meet his new family.
69. Rory and Granda now live in a flat round the corner from his father’s.
70. Rory makes plans to meet up with all who have helped him and Granda on their Great Escape, Annie
and Rab, Ruby and Sammy and Tyrone, and Darren and his family.
Review Questions
Open-ended Questions
Read the extracts from the novel Catch Us If You Can and answer the questions that follow.
Practice 1
Dr Nicol was … our doctor … great boy, Rory, ‘he would say … deserve ye.’
(Textbook, pages 3 – 4)
1. Why does Rory think that he and Granda may not be ‘enough to make a family’?
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. What does Dr Nicol’s remark of Rory and Granda as a ‘double act’ suggest of their relationship?
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. How does this extract reveal that Rory is a dependable person?
____________________________________________________________________________________
4. What does this extract tell us about Rory and Granda’s relationship? Give an example.
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. What does we know about Granda from this extract?
____________________________________________________________________________________
Practice 2
Darren rubbed his sore leg … Granda was all … they put Granda into a home … where would I
go?
(Textbook, pages 10 -11)
1. Why would going into a home ‘kill’ Granda?
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Where would Granda prefer than be placed in a home?
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Why does Rory detest the idea of putting Granda in a home?
____________________________________________________________________________________
4. In the extract, and symbolically, what would ‘a parent, a teacher’ represent?
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. What does the last paragraph tell us about Rory’s relationship with Granda?
____________________________________________________________________________________
Practice 3
Please God let him wake … warning bell ringing … louder this time.
1. State two habits of Granda that seem to annoy Rory.
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. What does Rory feel guilty about when he thinks of Granda?
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. What does Rory’s prayer suggest about his idea of God?
____________________________________________________________________________________
4. How does Rory pray to God about Granda?
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. What do you think is the ‘warning bell’ that Rory hears?
____________________________________________________________________________________
Practice 4
Every day … at Castle Street … go on being frightened of her.
… had to get out of here!
… wanted home.

1. How does Tess get aggressive with Rory?
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. How does Rory react to Tess’s violence and threats?
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. What does Tony mean by Tess is ‘her own worst enemy’?
____________________________________________________________________________________
4. Why does Tony sympathise with Tess?
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. Rory says, ‘I want home.’ What does this imply?
____________________________________________________________________________________
Practice 5
Tyrone’s mother … Granda’s hands … under the skin.
‘I’d die before … happen,’ I told him.
Tyrone … ‘So would I.’

(Textbook, pages 85 - 86)
6. What does Granda imply when he refers to Ruby and her family as ‘the likes of you’?
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. What does the extract tell us about Tyrone’s mother’s experience with social workers?
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. In what ways is Tyrone similar to Rory?
___________________________________________________________________________________
_
4. What fear does Tyrone and Rory share?
___________________________________________________________________________________
_
5. How similarly would Rory and Tyrone react if they are taken away from their loved ones?
___________________________________________________________________________________
_
Tyrone was
Practice 6 tugging … at the television. ‘Hey, look, Rory, … more people who know your plight, …
of staying together.’
6. What does the first woman interviewed accuse Granda of?
___________________________________________________________________________________
_
2. What can you say about the people interviewed regarding their opinion on Rory and Granda being on
the run?
___________________________________________________________________________________
_
3. A couple of people interviewed call for Rory and Granda to be allowed to do what they are doing.
Why?
___________________________________________________________________________________
_
4. What does a person interviewed think of the police who are after Rory and Granda?
___________________________________________________________________________________
_
5. Why does Ruby say that it is good that people are talking about Rory and Granda?
___________________________________________________________________________________
_
Practice 7
He looked … face was the colour … ‘Your granda? … he?’
I tried … like him didn’t have … nature

(Textbook, page 112)
1. How does the youth come across Rory and Granda?
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. How does Rory reveal that Granda has gone to the washroom?
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. How does the youth think he will be rewarded if he turns Rory and Granda in to the police?
____________________________________________________________________________________
4. What are some of the things Rory think he could do to get away from the threatening youth?.
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. Why does Rory think that to escape from the youth, it is a bad idea to sprint off with Granda?
____________________________________________________________________________________
Practice 8
Then there were arguments … how the system had let us down, … take some responsibility for a
change.’
1. What are some the reasons given for Rory and Granda being on the run?
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Who does Rory blame for the situation he and Granda are in?
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Based on your knowledge of the story, why is Rory’s father named after a film star?
____________________________________________________________________________________
4. What does Rory feel about meeting his father? Why?
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. Why do you think Rory pretends not to be interested to seek his father?
____________________________________________________________________________________
Practice 9
I grinned. ‘Nothing … kill my granda.’
But after they’d … he’d never been born. I wouldn’t … had him.’
1. What worries Rory about Granda?
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. What seems to cause Granda to be restless and confused?
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. How does Rory feel about them being on the run?
____________________________________________________________________________________
4. Why does Granda feel so strongly about ‘ungrateful children’?
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. Why does Granda withdraw his words about wishing that his son has ‘never been born’?
____________________________________________________________________________________
Practice 10
So, … staying in Liverpool. I suppose I’ll get used … not so lucky.

I think of … who helped … our journey.
1. Why do you think Granda feels at home in Liverpool?
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Name two services that are provided for Rory and Granda in their new home?
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. How does Rory’s father help them at their new home?
____________________________________________________________________________________
4. Rory knows that he has found what he was looking for. What was he looking for?
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. Why does Rory feel that he is lucky compared to Tess?
____________________________________________________________________________________

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Tom and Jackie

Boy on the train

1. Rory McIntosh lives with Granda in Scotland.

1. Rory lives with Granda in a flat.

1. This is the local old people’s hospital.

1. Granda escapes with Rory from Rachnadar to Darren’s mother’s caravan.

1. Rory and Granda meet Jeff’s family.

1. Mr Hood wants Rory to get back into the football team. ( )

1. Mrs Foley senses a certain smell in the room. ( )

1. Tess scratches Rory one night after dinner. ( )

Graded Enrichment & Revision Exercises

1. Rory tells Mrs Foley about Tess. ( )

1. Granda is moved to another ward after being assessed unfit. ( )

1. Granda withdraws more and more into himself at Rachnadar. ( )

1. They find a pond and Granda catches a fish. ( )

1. The boy emerges from the undergrowth and seems friendly. ( )

1. Ruby’s caravan is as luxurious as Darren’s mother’s. ( )

1. Rory and Granda will go to Glasgow by train. ( )

1. The police want the travellers to turn in Rory and Granda. ( )

1. Granda sleeps as they stop in a lay-by. ( )

1. Granda used to repair cars when he was young. ( )

1. Rab questions Rory is he really has a father. ( )

1. They meet up with Annie in a lay-by on a quiet stretch of road. ( )

The supporting characters are:

1. “…only Granda and me.” (pg. 3)

1. Puts up with Granda’s forgetful antics

4. “planned … with precision.” (pg. 59)

8. “… always embellished stories of Granda … to make them even funnier.” (pg. 7)

Attached to Rory/ Doting

1. “… living with my granda was like having a baby …” (pg. 1)

1. “… Granda relied on me … his lunch every day.” (pg. 9)

3. Hates old folk’s home

1. “…one thing my granda knew all about … films.” (pg. 2)

1. “… her massive eyebrows … could go on safari in Mrs Foley’s eyebrows.” (pg. 7 – 8)

3. “… full of enthusiasm about ways to help us.” (pg. 21)

Reunites with his father (Granda) and son (Rory)

Do not be afraid to follow your conscience

Conflict/ Struggle between the individual and the authority

Insensitivity of society in the care of its old

Treat the old with dignity and sensitivity

Do not label people

Home care versus care at home

Empathise with the aged and sick

Providing is not caring

Do not be afraid to do what is right

3. How does this extract reveal that Rory is a dependable person?

1. Why would going into a home ‘kill’ Granda?

2. Where would Granda prefer than be placed in a home?

3. Why does Rory detest the idea of putting Granda in a home?

4. In the extract, and symbolically, what would ‘a parent, a teacher’ represent?

1. State two habits of Granda that seem to annoy Rory.

2. What does Rory feel guilty about when he thinks of Granda?

3. What does Rory’s prayer suggest about his idea of God?

4. How does Rory pray to God about Granda?

Every day … at Castle Street … go on being frightened of her.

… had to get out of here!

(Textbook, pages 43 – 44)

2. How does Rory react to Tess’s violence and threats?

3. What does Tony mean by Tess is ‘her own worst enemy’?

5. Rory says, ‘I want home.’ What does this imply?

Tyrone’s mother … Granda’s hands … under the skin.

‘I’d die before … happen,’ I told him.

Tyrone … ‘So would I.’