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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSEleven-year-old Sam Littlefield has just moved into her Aunt Vicky's small house in rural Oregon, and she has no plans to stay. She and her older sister Caitlin are placed there after their father hurts Caitlin badly enough that caseworkers step in, and Sam, who has learned it is safest to keep quiet and give nothing away, is determined to get her family back exactly the way it was. On her first night, Sam unwraps a late birthday present from Aunt Vicky, a battered old card game called A Game of Fox & Squirrels, and that same night a fox climbs through her bedroom window, introduces himself as Ashander, and offers her a way home. He tells her about the Golden Acorn, an object so powerful it can grant any wish, and says she can have it, and everything she wants, if she can pass his tests. Between a neighbor boy who knits without patterns, a bullying pet chicken, three very opinionated talking squirrels, and an aunt who keeps trying to get close to her, Sam has to decide how far she is willing to go to win her way home.
Free Battle of the Books questions for A Game of Fox & Squirrels
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 Game of Fox & Squirrels. 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 does a talking animal in a feathered hat introduce himself as Ashander?
✓ Answer
A Game of Fox & Squirrels by Jenn Reese
Ashander turns up at the opening of Sam's castle fort her first night in Oregon, arrogant and charming, and points out that both their names have three syllables. He is the one who tells Sam about the Golden Acorn and the tests she will have to pass to earn it.
- First half
In what book does a girl write a friend a letter inventing a fake trip to Hawaii?
✓ Answer
A Game of Fox & Squirrels by Jenn Reese
Sam cannot explain to BriAnn why she is not in Los Angeles, so she fills a page with snorkeling and sea turtles she never actually saw. She even adds a line at the bottom promising she will be back before school starts.
- First half
In what book does a girl steal her aunt's computer mouse to answer a riddle?
✓ Answer
A Game of Fox & Squirrels by Jenn Reese
The first riddle told Sam to trap something with a twitching gray tail in a bramble, and Sam decides a computer mouse in a thicket of cords counts. She sneaks out after everyone has gone to bed, unplugs it, and tells herself Aunt Vicky can borrow Armen's.
- Second half
In what book does a girl holding a hen realize there is a dinosaur in her arms?
✓ Answer
A Game of Fox & Squirrels by Jenn Reese
Sam finally gets to hold Lady Louise, and because of all the nature documentaries she watched with her dad, she knows birds are technically dinosaurs. It is one of the happiest moments Sam has in Oregon, and it makes what Ashander demands later so much worse.
- Second half
In what book does stuffing from a torn stuffed rabbit fly through the air like confetti?
✓ Answer
A Game of Fox & Squirrels by Jenn Reese
Ashander destroys Pirate Princess in front of Sam right after she gives her up, even though she passed his test. One white tuft catches on Sam's arm and she shakes it off like poison, and the pirate rabbit Aunt Vicky had loved since she was a girl is gone for good.
- Near the end
In what book does a compass glow in the dark and reveal a hidden acorn symbol?
✓ Answer
A Game of Fox & Squirrels by Jenn Reese
Sam switches off her flashlight to save the battery and discovers a glowing arrow and a small acorn on the compass face that the glare had been hiding. Lucas's ordinary gift turns out to point toward what she wants most, and it leads her to the clearing.
