BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSResilience is a Mars rover who wakes up in a NASA laboratory, surrounded by scientists in white hazmat suits, full of curiosity about the world and a growing sense that he is more than just a machine. Narrated entirely by Res himself, the story follows him through months of testing and preparation at JPL, where he develops deep attachments to two scientists: Rania, the brilliant and dedicated engineer who writes his code, and Xander, her warm, joke-cracking partner who calls Res his buddy. Interspersed throughout are letters written by Rania's daughter Sophie, a sixth grader who at first resents the rover for taking her mother away, but gradually grows to care about him as she watches her mother pour her life into the mission. When Res finally launches for Mars, with his small drone companion Fly tucked inside him, he carries with him not just scientific instruments but something harder to name: a longing to be worthy of the people who built him.
Free Battle of the Books questions for A Rover's Story
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 Rover's Story. 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 robot win the name Resilience from an essay written by a sixth grader in Ohio?
✓ Answer
A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga
A girl named Cadence wins a naming contest with an essay explaining what resilience means. Xander reads the essay aloud and decides to call the machine Res for short.
- First half
In what book does a robot see reddish brown ground for the first time and think only the word "Wow"?
✓ Answer
A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga
When the heat shield drops away, the machine's bottom cameras glimpse Mars for the first time. It borrows the word Wow, the same word Xander used when it first moved.
- First half
In what book does a satellite named Guardian speak to a robot from the sky but cannot be seen?
✓ Answer
A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga
After landing, a voice tells the machine to look up. Guardian is an orbiting satellite designed to be heard but not seen, sent to help guide the mission.
- Second half
In what book does a robot keep hearing a strange whirling whistle it refuses to believe is just the wind?
✓ Answer
A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga
A mysterious sound recurs throughout the Mars mission. Guardian insists it is wind hitting the rock features, but Resilience records it and sends it to the command center because he is convinced it is something else.
- Second half
In what book does a girl quit soccer in eighth grade and think about joining the school newspaper instead?
✓ Answer
A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga
Sophie's letters track her growing up. She stops playing soccer, drifts apart from her best friend Immani, and decides to try writing for the school paper because she enjoys writing to Res.
- Near the end
In what book does a small flier learn the word "scared" only after crashing during a dust storm?
✓ Answer
A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga
After the dust devil knocks Fly to the ground and breaks his camera, he tells Resilience he did not know this terrible human feeling before but knows it now, and begs to be told where his friend is.
