Quiz Small Town Pride Phil Stamper

Small Town Pride Quiz: 20 Questions on Plot, Characters, and Themes

This quiz covers the full arc of Small Town Pride—from Jake's coming out and the flag-raising to the town council vote and the triumphant first festival. Use it to test your recall of key plot points, character motivations, themes, and the bigger ideas the novel explores. Answers are at the bottom, with brief explanations grounded in the story. Good luck!

Small Town Pride Quiz: 20 Questions on Plot, Characters, and Themes

Quiz Questions

1. (Plot/Sequence) What event directly prompts Jake to come out to his parents?

  • A) A school assignment about family

  • B) Watching a TV segment about a teenage grand marshal of a pride parade

  • C) A conversation with Jenna about being gay

  • D) Seeing a pride flag in town

2. (Plot/Sequence) After Jake comes out, what does his father do that surprises him?

(Short answer)

3. (Plot/Sequence) Who is the mayor of Barton Springs?

  • A) Susan Lee

  • B) Brett's mother

  • C) Jenna's father

  • D) Mr. Foley

4. (Plot/Sequence) What is the initial reaction of the town council to the pride festival proposal?

  • A) They approve it unanimously

  • B) They postpone the vote

  • C) They reject it unanimously

  • D) They table it indefinitely

5. (Plot/Sequence) How does the pride festival eventually get a venue?

(Short answer)

6. (Plot/Sequence) What role does Susan Lee play in the story?

  • A) She is the mayor's assistant

  • B) She is a reporter and mayoral candidate who helps the cause

  • C) She is Jake's teacher

  • D) She is Brett's mother

7. (Plot/Sequence) What happens to Brett's relationship with Jake over the course of the novel?

(Short answer)

8. (Plot/Sequence) In the epilogue, what is the outcome of the pride festival?

  • A) It is cancelled due to rain

  • B) It is a huge success with over a thousand attendees

  • C) It is small but meaningful

  • D) It is postponed to the next year

9. (Character Motivation) Why does Brett initially avoid sitting with Jake and Jenna?

  • A) He dislikes them

  • B) He is afraid of his mother's reaction

  • C) He is shy

  • D) He has other friends

10. (Character Motivation) Why does Jenna lie about tutoring Connor?

(Short answer)

11. (Character Motivation) What motivates Mayor Miller to oppose the pride festival?

  • A) She is personally homophobic

  • B) She fears losing the election and wants to control the council

  • C) She thinks the festival is too expensive

  • D) She wants to support Susan Lee

12. (Character Motivation) Why does Jake's dad raise the pride flag?

(Short answer)

13. (Character Motivation) Why does Brett decide to help with the festival despite his mother's opposition?

  • A) He wants to spite his mother

  • B) He wants to support Jake and the LGBTQ+ community, and he eventually comes out as bi

  • C) He is forced by Jenna

  • D) He wants to win a bet

14. (Theme/Symbol) What does the pride flag come to symbolize for Jake throughout the novel?

  • A) A source of embarrassment

  • B) A symbol of his identity and belonging

  • C) A political statement

  • D) A reminder of his father's mistakes

15. (Theme/Symbol) How does the video game Songbird Hollow contrast with Barton Springs?

(Short answer)

16. (Theme/Symbol) What does the town council's unanimous rejection of the festival represent?

  • A) The town's lack of interest in festivals

  • B) The institutional homophobia and political control in Barton Springs

  • C) The council's dislike of Jake

  • D) The influence of the church

17. (Theme/Symbol) What does the church's approval of the festival signify?

(Short answer)

18. (Synthesis) How does Jake's view of Barton Springs change from the beginning to the end of the novel?

(Short answer)

19. (Synthesis) Which combination of characters' actions is most crucial to making the pride festival happen?

  • A) Jake's dad raising the flag and Brett's mother approving

  • B) Jenna's drumline skills and Ashley's bracelets

  • C) Susan Lee's sponsorship, the church's venue, and the community's petition

  • D) Mr. Foley's support and the mayor's change of heart

20. (Synthesis) What does the novel suggest about the role of allies in the fight for LGBTQ+ acceptance?

(Short answer)

Answer Key

1. B – Jake breaks down crying while watching a TV segment about a teenage grand marshal of a pride parade, which leads him to tell his parents that night.

2. He raises a large rainbow pride flag on the family's front-yard flagpole.

3. B – Brett's mother, Mayor Miller, is the mayor of Barton Springs.

4. C – In Chapter 23, the council votes unanimously against the festival license, denying the permit.

5. The congregation of the Barton Springs United Methodist Church approves renting the church grounds for the event.

6. B – Susan Lee is a reporter and mayoral candidate who writes a favorable article and later helps secure sponsors and support.

7. They become close friends, Brett comes out as bi, and they develop romantic feelings for each other.

8. B – The epilogue reveals that over a thousand people attended, making it the town's most successful festival.

9. B – Brett is afraid of his mother's reaction and the political fallout, so he keeps his distance early on.

10. She has a crush on Zack and uses tutoring as an excuse to spend time near him, though she later admits she actually likes Connor.

11. B – Mayor Miller is primarily motivated by political control and re-election; she wants to suppress anything that could threaten her power.

12. He wants to show support for Jake and make up for not knowing sooner; he hopes the flag proves his acceptance.

13. B – Brett supports Jake and the LGBTQ+ community, and his own coming out as bi deepens his commitment.

14. B – The flag becomes a symbol of Jake's identity and his growing sense of belonging in Barton Springs.

15. Songbird Hollow is a virtual community where Jake feels accepted and can be himself, while Barton Springs initially feels rejecting and homophobic.

16. B – The rejection represents the institutional homophobia and the mayor's political control over the village.

17. It signifies that inclusive faith spaces can be allies and that the community is capable of change.

18. Initially Jake feels he doesn't belong and wants to escape, but by the end he feels a sense of belonging and pride in his hometown after the successful festival.

19. C – The combination of Susan Lee's sponsorship, the church's venue, and the community's petition (with over a thousand signatures) is what makes the festival possible.

20. The novel shows that allies—parents, teachers, pastors, and classmates—provide crucial support, and that community change requires both visible allies and grassroots organizing.

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