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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSThe narrator is a dog, old now and warm by a fire, looking back on everything that came before. She and her brother are born in a wheelbarrow in an old chicken-coop shed on the Merrions' country property, and their mother names them Squirrel and Bone. Their neighbors are shed cats, mice, and a reckless fox. Then one morning Mother trots off toward the garbage heap and never comes back. The puppies manage alone, and a quiet boy named Matthias secretly wins them over with pieces of chicken. But when restless Bone slips away from the shed, Squirrel runs after him, and the puppies end up beside a roaring highway, where a couple pulls over and scoops them up. Soon Squirrel is on her own, raiding garbage cans and hiding from people. She finds a bold little friend named Moon, but she keeps hoping to find Bone again.
Free Battle of the Books questions for A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book is a litter of puppies born in a wheelbarrow inside an old chicken coop?
✓ Answer
A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin
Mother picks an old garden shed on the Merrions' property that was first built as a chicken coop, with the nesting boxes still lining one end. Squirrel and her brother Bone are born there in a wheelbarrow filled with burlap bags and straw.
- First half
In what book does a shopper pick the cuter tan puppy and leave the spotted one behind?
✓ Answer
A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin
Two women with their arms full of heavy bags run over after the puppies are thrown from the car. One of them wants the tan one because he is cute and says the spotted one isn't as cute, so she carries Bone off and Squirrel is separated from her brother.
- First half
In what book is a highway rest stop called "the resting place"?
✓ Answer
A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin
Squirrel has seen cars pull off the highway at places like this and people climb out to eat at the tables, talk, and stretch. Tired and hungry, with burrs in their ears and tails, she pushes over a garbage can there, and Moon paws out picnic leftovers like deviled eggs and a whole slice of cheese.
- Second half
In what book do two girls in blue scarves leave a bakery with cookies shaped like people?
✓ Answer
A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin
Amanda and Sarah, whose mother works in the library, are two of the Claremont townspeople Squirrel and Moon watch from their hiding places. When school lets out three days before Christmas, the girls run down Nassau Street and stop at the bakery instead of the toy store, coming out with cookies shaped like people.
- Second half
In what book does a vet find an old shoulder fracture that healed on its own?
✓ Answer
A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin
After the truck accident, Dr. Roth takes X-rays and finds that Squirrel's main problem is a badly broken leg that will need surgery. She also sees an old fracture on the right shoulder, the one hurt when Squirrel was thrown from a car as a puppy, which healed pretty well by itself.
- Near the end
In what book does an old woman fake a ringing doorbell to hang up on a pushy caller?
✓ Answer
A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin
Mrs. Oliver phones to question whether Susan should be driving and to suggest she sell her house, which makes Susan cross. Susan insists she is not snippy, then says there's the doorbell and hangs up, even though the doorbell had not rung.
