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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSAmy Anne Ollinger is a shy fourth grader at Shelbourne Elementary who almost never says out loud what she is actually thinking. When her favorite book, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, disappears from the library shelves, the school librarian tells her the school board banned it after a parent named Mrs. Spencer complained about it. Amy Anne gets a chance to speak up for the book at a school board meeting, but when her turn at the microphone comes, she freezes and says nothing, and the ban stands. Angry at herself, and even angrier when Mrs. Spencer starts adding more titles to the banned list, Amy Anne decides to read every one of them out of spite, then starts quietly lending her collection to classmates out of her school locker. Word spreads fast, and Amy Anne finds herself running something far bigger, and far riskier, than she ever meant to start.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Ban This Book
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 Ban This Book. 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 do students tape cardboard mailboxes inside their locker doors for passing notes?
✓ Answer
Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
Every locker at Shelbourne Elementary has a cardboard box taped inside the door so kids can slip notes through the vents. Amy Anne's mailbox is always empty at the start, which makes it a huge deal later when it fills up with requests from kids who want to borrow her books.
- First half
In what book does a librarian give away an old date stamp still set to 1988?
✓ Answer
Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
Mrs. Jones shows Amy Anne the old date due cards tucked in the backs of ancient library books, then digs an adjustable rubber stamp out of a drawer and hands it over. It becomes the tool that makes the locker library feel like a real library.
- First half
In what book does a boy sip an empty chocolate milk carton and say, "Ah. Refreshing"?
✓ Answer
Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
Coletrane plays off his cafeteria wipeout by pretending the empty carton still has milk in it while everyone claps for him. Amy Anne has to hurry over and remind him that the real problem is the book still in his hands.
- Second half
In what book does an author draw his underwear superhero shouting "Tra-la-la!" under his signature?
✓ Answer
Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
Dav Pilkey signs Amy Anne's smuggled copy of The Adventures of Captain Underpants and adds a quick sketch of the hero. When he asks what the initials B.B.L.L. stand for, Amy Anne tells him he probably does not want to know.
- Second half
In what book does a custodian cut the lock off a girl's locker with long metal cutters?
✓ Answer
Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
Principal Banazewski and Mr. Crutchfield are waiting at Amy Anne's locker when she arrives Monday morning. She cries in front of the whole hallway as the lock pops and her secret library is emptied out.
- Near the end
In what book does a girl sit on her friend's lap so only one pair of feet shows?
✓ Answer
Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
Principal Banazewski walks the row of stalls knocking and asking who is inside, and Amy Anne is supposed to be home sick. Rebecca does all the talking and argues her way out of it like the lawyer she plans to become.
