BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSYadriel is a sixteen-year-old trans boy who grew up in a brujx cemetery in East Los Angeles, part of a Latinx community of magical healers and spirit guides who serve Lady Death. Because his family refuses to recognize him as a brujo, he has been denied his quinces ceremony and the magic that comes with it. Days before Dia de Muertos, with his cousin Miguel mysteriously dead and his body nowhere to be found, Yadriel secretly performs his own binding ritual, receives Lady Death's blessing, and sets out to prove himself by summoning Miguel's spirit. He summons the wrong ghost entirely: Julian Diaz, a loud, reckless, frustratingly charming boy from their high school who was apparently murdered the same night. Julian refuses to be released to the afterlife until he can make sure his friends are safe, and the two strike a deal that pulls Yadriel into something far more dangerous than a simple missing-person mystery.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Cemetery Boys
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 Cemetery Boys. 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 is a beloved cat named after a famous artist known for crooked paintings?
✓ Answer
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Yadriel's mother named the injured gray cat Purrcaso, a play on Picasso, because of the animal's crooked spine and askew features. The cat became a companion that carried his mother's magic.
- First half
In what book does a brother release his first spirit, who vanishes in a burst of marigold petals?
✓ Answer
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Yadriel watches Diego cut the golden thread that ties Beatriz to her rosary, freeing her. She disappears in glowing orange petals, and Yadriel aches with envy at his brother's milestone.
- First half
In what book do friends mourn that police call missing street kids runaways and never search?
✓ Answer
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
The friends explain that no alert was issued because police assumed a Latino boy with no parents simply ran away. Several local street kids have vanished the same way without any investigation.
- Second half
In what book does a grandmother tell of a part-man, part-beast god who devours lost spirits in the underworld?
✓ Answer
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Lita tells the children the legend of Bahlam, the jaguar god who devours lost spirits and tricks humans into making sacrifices. The story foreshadows the true threat behind the disappearances Yadriel is investigating.
- Second half
In what book does a spirit erase random numbers off a math whiteboard to confuse the teacher?
✓ Answer
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Bored in class, Julian wipes away numbers when Ms. Costanzo is not looking, leaving her baffled by her own mistakes. Yadriel has to bite back laughter, enjoying the mischief of his invisible companion.
- Near the end
In what book does a ghost show photos of himself as a curly-haired kid under his father's arm?
✓ Answer
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Julian pulls the family pictures from the car's dashboard and shows Yadriel his dad Ramon holding him and Rio. The warm photos reveal a softer, happier side of Julian's past.
