BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSSixteen-year-old Samira Abdullahi is a Sudanese American poet in D.C., and for years the aunties and uncles of her community have gossiped about her, though most of what they say isn't true. Her mother is strict, so Samira and her best friends, Tamadur and Lina, keep spare outfits in their school lockers and forbidden clothes under their mattresses. Samira dreams of being a writer in New York, and her elegant Aunt Aida, who lives next door surrounded by books, encourages her. When a photo of Samira in clothes her mother didn't know she owned gets her grounded for the summer, she loses her phone but keeps the computer for the teen poetry workshop her aunt has paid for. Bored and lonely, she posts her first poem on an online poetry forum and catches the attention of Horus, a famous and much older performance poet whose constant praise makes her feel seen. As their messages grow, so do the secrets she keeps from her mother, her aunt and her friends. This novel in verse is told in short, mostly lowercase poems mixed with texts, direct messages and emails.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Bright Red Fruit
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 Bright Red Fruit. 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 are a girl's lashes so impossible that strangers whisper to her mother that she shouldn't wear makeup?
✓ Answer
Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo
Samira barely remembers Lina's oldest sister Farah, who has been gone for years, beyond those lashes, a room full of books and a tiny ring in her nose. The mothers now use her name as a warning, saying "remember farah" and meaning or else.
- First half
In what book does a friend comforting a sobbing girl joke that the tears might turn her own earrings green?
✓ Answer
Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo
Samira sobs over what she thinks is a breakup, and Tamadur hugs her until her neck and shoulder are wet with tears. Tamadur's gentle joke about all that water gets a damp hiccup of a laugh out of Samira.
- First half
In what book does a boy call the stack of poetry books on a classmate's desk "my dream dinner party"?
✓ Answer
Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo
Right before workshop, Gabriel slides into the seat beside Samira and gushes over the books Farah gave her. He rattles off forms like the sestina and ghazal and scribbles her a reading list on a torn sheet of paper.
- Second half
In what book does an aunt warn about parents who disguised a permanent move home as a visit?
✓ Answer
Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo
In her office, Aunt Aida tells Samira that Mazin's parents pretended to be going home for a visit, then told him on their last day that they wouldn't be returning, something about his American girlfriend. She calls it "the oldest trick our community has" and warns that Mama is getting ideas.
- Second half
In what book does a mother sing in the mornings to living flowers in a clay pot?
✓ Answer
Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo
After Mama and Samira make peace, Mama brings home living flowers in a clay pot and sings to them in the mornings while she checks the soil with her fingers. Samira writes that under her care the flowers bloom, and so does she.
- Near the end
In what book does a mother misting windowsill herbs tease that she can smell her daughter's perfume oil?
✓ Answer
Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo
In the golden autumn light, Mama mists her new potted herbs and sings quietly, then turns and asks if Samira thinks she can sneak up on her when she can smell that perfume oil from a mile away. They laugh together before Samira asks to go to an open mic.
