BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Jolene lives in a run-down Phoenix apartment with her mom, who hasn't been the same since a car accident a couple of years ago. The one thing she looks forward to is watching her online friend Addie, a twelve-year-old who livestreams herself flying a bright red ultralight near Alamo Lake, and Jolene has even drawn her own map of the area where Addie flies. Then, during one show, the propeller goes silent, the ultralight spins toward the ground, and Addie screams Jolene's name as she goes down. The librarian, a man at the fire station, Mom, and the sheriff's office all brush her off, and Jolene is keeping a hard secret about her mom, so she can't let adults come to her home. So she fills a gallon jug with tap water, grabs her map and her mom's phone, and sets out alone to find Addie. On the way she meets Marty, a nosy seventeen-year-old with blue-streaked hair, and the trip turns out to be much harder than the "quick three-hour drive" Jolene imagined.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Across the Desert
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 Across the Desert. 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 girl spend a whole month mapping an online friend's takeoff and landing spots?
✓ Answer
Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling
By watching Addie's show closely, Jolene has drawn her own map of the Alamo Lake area, with mines, trails, ghost towns, and all of Addie's takeoff and landing spots. Addie has no idea that Jolene has figured out where she flies, and Jolene plans to follow along on the map when the show starts.
- First half
In what book does a pilot girl drop a hint that her ultralight has two seats?
✓ Answer
Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling
In a chat sixteen days before the crash, Addie says nothing will stop her from flying and dreams of flying over the ocean someday. When Jolene says she understands wanting to fly away, Addie hints that there's room for her, and soon Paris is officially on their itinerary.
- First half
In what book does a girl wipe out onto the rumble strips her mom called drunk bumps?
✓ Answer
Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling
Riding the motorbike along the freeway shoulder while imagining she is the motorcyclist Lois Pryce, Jolene swerves away from a passing semi and crashes. She ends up lying on the rumble strips her mom used to call drunk bumps, with another semi coming.
- Second half
In what book are a café's walls covered in stapled dollar bills at least three layers deep?
✓ Answer
Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling
At the Flipside Café, customers write on dollar bills, like one that says Lily loves Gavin, and staple them to every wall. Jolene peels them back to count the layers and thinks about how that money could buy a car and new clothes instead of just sitting there.
- Second half
In what book does a donkey burst out of a dried-mud gorge so suddenly that a teen screeches?
✓ Answer
Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling
Just as Jolene and Marty reach the opening of the mud gorge, a donkey runs out making a loud screeching noise, and Marty lets out the highest-pitched shriek Jolene has ever heard. The two girls burst out laughing, and Marty says the thing sounds like a T. rex.
- Near the end
In what book does a dad arrive in hamburger pajama pants beside a mom in a sleeping-giraffe nightgown?
✓ Answer
Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling
Marty's parents arrive at the Flipside Café still mostly in pajamas, with her mom wearing jean shorts and the giraffe nightgown. Her mom announces Marty's full name, Martina Elizabeth Abernathy Peterson, and then scolds her for taking her grandpa's car without a license.
