BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSWhen twelve-year-old Jack Flagg discovers that his Aunt Arabella is nearly bankrupt and will soon have to sell the family's grand old Boston house, he makes a bold decision: he and the family butler, Praiseworthy, will stow away on a ship and race to the California gold fields to make their fortune. The year is 1849, the Gold Rush is on, and the two partners climb out of their potato barrels on the second day at sea to boldly introduce themselves to the ship's thunderous captain. What follows is a wild, funny, and sometimes dangerous journey of 15,000 miles around Cape Horn, through the mining camps of the Sierra Nevada, and into a world of road agents, claim jumpers, grizzly bears, and colorful characters who will give the boy and his butler nicknames they never expected.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Bullwhip Griffin
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 Bullwhip Griffin. 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 boy name a small pig Good Luck and try to save him from the cook?
✓ Answer
Bullwhip Griffin by Sid Fleischman
Jack befriends the smallest pig in the ship's animal pens and names him Good Luck. The pig follows him everywhere, even into the coal bunkers, which sets up the running gag of the cook chasing him for Sunday dinner.
- First half
In what book does a Frenchman bring grape cuttings on a long voyage to plant a vineyard in California?
✓ Answer
Bullwhip Griffin by Sid Fleischman
Monsieur Gaunt carries wet bundles of grape cuttings in the cargo hold. When the ship becomes becalmed and water runs low, his cuttings begin to die, which sets up Praiseworthy's clever solution for both him and Mr. Azariah Jones.
- First half
In what book do alley cats from Peru parade onto a ship after a butler buys fresh kidney?
✓ Answer
Bullwhip Griffin by Sid Fleischman
Praiseworthy buys a package of fresh kidney in Callao to teach the cook his great-great-grandfather's kidney pie recipe for Captain Swain. The smell draws what looks like every stray cat in Callao after him, and at least a dozen slip aboard before the gangway goes up.
- Second half
In what book does a stage driver joke that a mining town is quiet with nobody hanging from a pine?
✓ Answer
Bullwhip Griffin by Sid Fleischman
The driver is pulling into Hangtown, a Gold Rush settlement notorious for swift miners' justice. The grim joke introduces Jack and Praiseworthy to a town where the law is whatever the miners decide on any given day.
- Second half
In what book does a boy accidentally buy a bushel of neckties at auction because he said "ate"?
✓ Answer
Bullwhip Griffin by Sid Fleischman
Jack is just telling his friends he's already eaten, but the auctioneer hears "eight" and calls the sale. He has to cut two ounces off his prized nugget to pay, even though the miners laugh that the only neckties wanted at the diggings are the rope kind.
- Near the end
In what book does a passing miner with a swollen cheek ride off to find a dentist named Doc Higgins?
✓ Answer
Bullwhip Griffin by Sid Fleischman
Praiseworthy realizes the dentist is none other than Cut-Eye Higgins, the scoundrel they've been chasing. The villain has set himself up as a tooth puller who probably extracts gold pouches at the same time as teeth.
