Katy of Sky Road – Chapter 1
• Katy: She likes dancing. She is popular with children and they think she can dance well.
• Wesley: Katy’s ballroom partner. He is a prefect.
• Melissa: Katy’s friend. Zeke’s friend• Zeke: He smokes. Katy's and Melissa’s friend.• Ricardo: Famous. Starred in a TV
advertisement. He is a good break dancer.• Mr Samuels: Ballroom dance instructor.
Picture Frame – Chapter 2• Auntie Rose: Hector’s mother’s sister. She cooks and
cleans and lives with Hector and Katy. She once lost her heart on a struggle hero who disappeared. She watches Days, smokes and can bake.
• Hector: Katy’s father. He is a youth leader. He likes to debate about current affairs that are in the newspaper. He dislikes blacks slightly. He likes Wesley. He is strict.
• Pastor: Good friends with Hector. • Mario: Colours hair• Setting: There’s a shebeen across Katy’s house.
Sugar Water – Chapter 3
• Katy- Katy has a nightmare. She falls down stairs and wakes up before she could see whose feet are in front of her.
• Auntie Rose- Always says “Things will be better in the morning
• Mario-Lives in Katy’s backyard in Wendy house with Angelo
• Guest Speaker-Talks about Tik at school.
1. Why do you think Chapter 1 is called “All eyes on me”?
• She danced with a popular guy and everybody was watching them.
• The song they danced to was called “All eyes on me”.
2. Which word in the following list is the odd one out? Explain why.
Skateboard, ghetto-blaster, beat-boxes, Tupac, cell phone, rap, braid.
Skateboard – does not have anything to do with dancing
2b) What do the words in the list tell you about the period in which the novel is
set?• 2009.• They talk about cell phones, rapping and beat-
boxing. All these became popular from the year 2000 onwards.
3a) What reason does Hector give Katy for wanting her to try on her mother’s ball
gown?
• He wants to take a picture and put it next to her mother’s.
3b) Why else might he want her to wear it?
• Katy may remind him of his wife.
4a) Do you agree with Auntie Rose that Hector thinks “in terms of race”? Explain your viewpoint.
• Yes. Hector refers to coloureds as “us” and blacks as “them”.
4b) What are Hector’s views of the government? Quote from the text to support your ideas.
• The government favours blacks.• “Where do all the blacks come from all of a
sudden, when there have been coloured families on that list for the past thirty odd years?”
5. Ricardo. He shuffles into place in the line-up of latecomers, still doing up the buttons of his shirt.
Wesley glares at him and looks at me smugly.
• Ricardo came late.• Ricardo was not dressed properly.
5a. Give two possible reasons why Wesley “glares” at Ricardo in assembly
• Wesley told Katy that Ricardo was trouble and by coming late Ricardo confirms Wesley’s statement so he shows with his facial expression that he was right.
5b. Why do you think he looks at Katy “smugly”?
6. Read the section in which Katy talks about her nightmare and then use your own words to describe Katy’s feelings during this
dream. Quote from the section to back up your response.
• She is afraid because she uses words like “treacherous, ominous” “Fear tightens its grip on me.”
7. What symptoms does Zeke have which show that he is ill?
• He coughs a lot.• He has no appetite.
8. Hector often refers to current news and issues in the country and overseas.
• Drug abuse• The N2 Gateway Project• Crime - Rape
8a. Write down three examples of these issues from the text.
8. Hector often refers to current news and issues in the country and overseas.
• The Government is not effective enough. Unemployment and poverty.
8b. What is the general theme of all these issues?
8. Hector often refers to current news and issues in the country and overseas.
• He becomes more strict in order to try and keep her safe.
8c. How do these issues affect Hector’s parenting of Katy?
Chapter 4 - Clouds• Ricardo: gets permission to wear braided hair at school• Wesley: What others say about Wesley – he is in love
with Katy and Zeke. Wesley buys Katy Bar One and Pepsi and hold Katy’s hand. Practises dance with Katy.
• Katy: spends holiday at Zeke’s house.• Hector: has a restless vacation. Criticises everybody
that’s in the news.• Auntie Rose: Hector needs a girlfriend• Mario: Sells Easter eggs for extra money so he can go to
Paris• Melissa and Zeke: smoke openly. Do badly at school.
Throw away their report cards.
Chapter 5 - Hello
• Ricardo: Asks Katy for her number• Katy: Goes home without practising ballroom
with Wesley• Wesley: Phones Katy• Zeke: wants to know what is wrong with Katy• Melissa: Says they must work together on
homework, each must do a third.
9a) Match the character in column A with the occupation in column B
• Ricardo – taxi gaartjie• Mario – hairdresser• Hector – baggage controller• Antie Rose – “Home executive• Rasta – taxi driver
9b) What is the more common name for a “home executive”? Explain how this description is not used
seriously by Antie Rose (Ch. 8)
• Housewife• She has never ever referred to herself as a
home executive and she uses it to make the visitor sound more high class.
10) Read the three quotations below, and then say for each one who is speaking and what theme it relates to
(explain your response each time):
a) “I’m addicted…I can’t think before I have my caffeine fix.” (Ch. 3)
Mario says it. It relates to the theme of being addicted to any substance.
10) Read the three quotations below, and then say for each one who is speaking and what theme it relates to
(explain your response each time):
b) “I’ll do anything to make money, as long as it’s legal.”
Ricardo – the theme of dreams and aspirations. Ricardo feels with money he can realise his dreams.
10) Read the three quotations below, and then say for each one who is speaking and what theme it relates to
(explain your response each time):
c) “It is high time your father took interest in a nice companion” (Ch. 7)
Auntie Rosie, relationships. Auntie Rosie wants Hector to begin a relationship with a woman.
11a) How does hip-hop make Katy feel?
It takes her to a place where she can just be. She is one with the sound, with the rhythm and with the breeze in the trees outside. She feels light and free and with that freedom comes a peace that she can’t explain. She feels unbound and feels who she truly is. She feels like flying.
11b) Have you ever had an experience that has made you feel that way? Describe it in your own words.
I feel like this when I pray.
12a) What is “AA” (Ch. 4 and Ch. 8)?
Alcoholics Anonymous
12b) What does it tell you about Hector’s past?
Hector must have been an alcoholic which means he must have been addicted to alcohol.
13) When Katy tells Ricardo that her father is very strict, he comments, “Don’t blame your dad for caring.” (Ch.
12)
a) What does this comment tell you about Ricardo’s character?
Ricardo has respect for adults, he understands that adults care.
13) When Katy tells Ricardo that her father is very strict, he comments, “Don’t blame your dad for caring.” (Ch.
12)
b) What does Ricardo tell Katy happened to his own father?
His father took one look at him when he was born and left. Ricardo would not recognise him if he walked past him in the street.
14a) What does Melissa mean when she advises Katy to tell a “white lie” (Ch. 7)?
A white lie is supposedly a lie that will not get you into trouble.
14b) What does this advice tell you about Melissa?
She does not mind lying.
14c) Does Katy take her advice? Explain your answer in full.
Yes. She lies to her father about doing the science project with Melissa.
15. Why does Katy give Ricardo her mother’s gold chain?
Katy wants to show Ricardo that he can trust her because she trusts him with her most important possession.
Chapter 13 - 25
1. “He’s on my case,” I say. ‘Thinks you’[re a tikkop and that I must know all about it.”
‘Tik?” Zeke shreiks. “Where must I get tik?”“Every second house is a tikhuisie.” Melissa laughs. “Ja Zeke.
Where must you get it? Your father must wake up.”a) Give the meaning of “tikkop” and “tikhuisie and then say
why you think these expressions are not written in Standard English.
Tikkop – Tik userTikhuisie – house that sells tikIt is the way the language is used in Cape Town.
b) Is Zeke being honest in his reply to Katy in this extract?
• No• He is a tik user and everybody knows where to
buy tik.
c) Irony is when the reader knows something the character doesn’t. Explain the irony in this
extract.Irony – You say/do one thing BUT something
completely different happens.Zeke says he does not use tik BUT he is a tik user.
d. Do you think, from Melissa’s reply, that she thinks Zeke uses tik? Explain your answer.
• Yes. Melissa laughs at his answer and she asks him a rhetorical question “Where must you get it?” which implies that she knows.
e). Does Katy believe Zeke is using tik at this point in the story? How do you know?
• No. Katy thinks Zeke is ill.
f) What makes it likely that Zeke is a “tikkop”?
• He is always ill, he coughs a lot.
2) “I don’t believe you would do something like this to me. Why can’t I choose my own clothes?”
a) Put his statement into context by saying when it was said and to whom.
Hector bought Katy a new formal dress because Katy said she needed something to dance in. It was not what Katy needed and she is upset that she had no choice when the dress was bought.
b) Explain what the conflict is about at this point in the story.
• Katy needs clothes for her concert and Hector bought her something she did not want.
c) What role does Auntie Rose play in this conflict?
She wants to help them to communicate better. She will try and fix the dress so that Katy can use it.
d) Is this the role Auntie always plays when there’s a difference of opinion between Katy and Hector? Find an
example to back up your point of view.
• Yes.
3a) What do you learn about Melissa’s character in Chapters 16 – 21?
• She does not mind lying.• She steals money from her mother.• She buys clothes on her mother’s Foschini
card.
b) Is she the sort of friend you would like to have? Explain your opinion
• No. I don’t like to lie.
4. What did Katy find out from her mother’s letters?
• Her father was drunk.• He did not treat her mother nicely .• Her mother was thinking of leaving her father.
5) “It’s my ticket out of this place.”a) Who says this and what is he/she referring to?
• Ricardo. Winning the dance competition will allow him to go to America.
b) What does it tell you about how this character feels about his/her life?
• He has ambition and he wants to be successful.
6) “Check up on Katy, please, Rosie. We don’t know what the young people are getting up to.”
a) What does Hector reveal about his attitude to Kate here?
• He does not trust her completely.
b) What effect does this attitude have on her?
• Katy was careful not to disappoint him but later on she started lying to him anyway.
7. In Chapter 20, Wesley shows a range of feelings for Katy. Which of the following words DO NOT describe
these feelings?
• Affectionate, understanding,
8) “My father is going to kill me.”a) Does Katy mean this literally or figuratively?
Explain your answer in full.• Figuratively. He will just be very angry, he will
not kill her.
b) Describe the circumstances which make Katy feel this way.
• Katy arrived home late, after her curfew. She also lied to Hector about where she was.
9) “You must follow your own heart, Katy. There is nothing worse than doing something when your heart
is not in it.”
a) Put this statement into context saying who is speaking and when.
Mr Samuels says it to Katy. Katy does not want to do ballroom dancing anymore and he encourages Katy to do what she likes.
b) Do you agree with this view?
Yes
c) What do these words tell you about the speaker?
He understands that you can’t do something well if your heart is not in it.
