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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSThirteen-year-old Joe Stoshack has a secret power: he can travel through time by holding old baseball cards. When his Little League coach, Flip Valentini, mentions that he has always wanted to know whether Civil War general Abner Doubleday actually invented baseball, Joe gets an idea. He tracks down an 1863 photograph of Doubleday, which triggers the time-travel sensation, but things get complicated when his mother insists on coming along for the trip — and the two of them land not at a quiet parlor but in the middle of the Battle of Gettysburg.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Abner & Me
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 Abner & Me. 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 coach name the supposed inventor of the sport when asked who he'd visit in time?
✓ Answer
Abner & Me by Dan Gutman
When Joe asks Flip which player he would visit, Flip surprises him by skipping the famous hitters and naming the supposed inventor of baseball. He says nobody knows for sure if the man really came up with the rules in Cooperstown around 1840.
- First half
In what book does a boy put on a dead soldier's uniform and pick up his rifle?
✓ Answer
Abner & Me by Dan Gutman
Joshua hands Joe the uniform and rifle of a fallen soldier named Alexander, who died of diarrhea. The clothes don't fit perfectly, but the dead soldier won't be needing them anymore.
- First half
In what book do Civil War soldiers fail to recognize hot dogs, juice boxes, and Go-Gurt at dinner?
✓ Answer
Abner & Me by Dan Gutman
After the battle, Joe and his mom share dinner with the Union soldiers. The boys are baffled by snacks like portable yogurt and juice boxes, asking how the apple gets inside the box.
- Second half
In what book does a nurse climb onto an operating table to give CPR to a soldier?
✓ Answer
Abner & Me by Dan Gutman
Stosh's mom revives Little John using mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions while the doctor accuses her of being a perverted woman because the technique was unknown in 1863.
- Second half
In what book does a Civil War general strike out on three soft underhand pitches and storm into the woods?
✓ Answer
Abner & Me by Dan Gutman
Doubleday tries hitting at the soldiers' urging, whiffs three lobbed pitches from Stosh, throws the bat down calling baseball stupid, and stomps off into the trees.
- Near the end
In what book does a boy think about hitting a bully with a line drive and accidentally do exactly that?
✓ Answer
Abner & Me by Dan Gutman
After Bobby Fuller insults him, Stosh imagines a line drive smacking the bully's head. The very next pitch comes inside, he turns on it, and the ball ricochets off Fuller.
