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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSIn the spring of 1776, Miss Mary Finch of Rhode Island dies, leaving behind the two girls she owned, Isabel and her five-year-old sister, Ruth. Isabel says Miss Mary's will set them free, but Miss Mary's nephew calls her a liar and sells both girls to Elihu and Anne Lockton, a wealthy Loyalist couple from New York City. In New York the Patriot army is building barricades and a British invasion could come any day. Isabel spends her days scrubbing and hauling water for her sharp-tempered new mistress, who renames her Sal and turns little Ruth into a dressed-up pet. On her very first day in the city, Curzon, a quick-talking enslaved boy in a floppy red hat, asks Isabel to spy on her Loyalist owners, hinting that a Patriot colonel might help her get home in return. Isabel has promised Momma to look after Ruth, who is prone to fits, and she wants back the freedom she believes the will gave them, so she has to decide whose side, if any, can help her.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Chains
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 Chains. 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 an oatcake smeared with honey tucked under a flat rock on a grave?
✓ Answer
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
On the morning of Miss Mary Finch's funeral, Isabel runs ahead of the wagon to Momma's grave and hides an oatcake with honey under the flat gray rock as an offering. Momma said the best time to talk to ghosts is just before the sun comes up, and Isabel desperately wants her mother's help.
- First half
In what book is a cornhusk doll given a face painted with pokeberry juice?
✓ Answer
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Ruth asks every night for the doll baby they had to leave behind in Rhode Island, so Isabel keeps her promise and makes her a new one. She gives it a gown made from a piece of cambric in Becky's scrap bag.
- First half
In what book does a Loyalist merchant flee the city nailed inside a crate marked CHEESE?
✓ Answer
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
When the plot against General Washington is uncovered, Lockton says his papers must be burned and has a carpenter nail him into a crate that is loaded onto a cart and driven away. By the time soldiers arrive at dawn to arrest him, the crate of "cheese" is long gone and Madam is left behind to guard the house.
- Second half
In what book does a barefoot boy in a mud-flecked red hat enlist in his master's place?
✓ Answer
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
At the pump, Isabel notices how changed Curzon looks in cut-off breeches with no shoes or stockings. He calls himself an American soldier and says Master Bellingham promised him freedom for enlisting in his place, but a bald man laughs that Bellingham is just feeding him to the cannons.
- Second half
In what book do soldiers with waxed, twirled mustachios spread butter on their bread with their thumbs?
✓ Answer
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
When Isabel is lent to Lady Seymour, the old lady's house is crowded with Hessians, hired German soldiers who spit when they talk and say "danke" for thank you. Lady Seymour puts up with them, especially since a couple are fond of her cat, but the thumb buttering makes her gasp and go pink.
- Near the end
In what book does a soldier's wife memorize the Queen's long full name, hoping to become a lady-in-waiting?
✓ Answer
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
As the British plan a ball for the Queen's birthday, Hannah calls Isabel a ninny for thinking the Queen will sail over for it. Mary, a Londoner who has only seen the wheels of the royal carriage, recites the Queen's whole name and dreams that calling it out will win her a place at court.
