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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSOn the night of April 14, 1865, actor John Wilkes Booth slips into Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., and shoots President Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head. Lincoln is carried to a boardinghouse across the street, where he dies the following morning. Booth escapes on horseback into Maryland, but the city is quickly locked down and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton launches the largest manhunt in American history to track down the assassin and his accomplices before they vanish into the South.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Chasing Lincoln's Killer
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 Chasing Lincoln's Killer. 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 an assassin wedge a wooden bar from a music stand against a door behind him?
✓ Answer
Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
Earlier that day, Booth had hidden a pine bar in the vestibule outside the president's box. When he slipped inside, he jammed the bar between the door and the wall so no one could follow him in.
- First half
In what book does an attacker calmly say, "I'm mad. I'm mad!" while being wrestled in a hallway?
✓ Answer
Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
As Powell fought Sergeant Robinson and Augustus Seward in the bright gaslight, he made this strange confession to one of them. It was as if he was trying to convince them he had gone insane.
- First half
In what book does a country doctor cut off a thigh-high cavalry boot to set a broken bone?
✓ Answer
Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
When Booth arrived in agony at Dr. Samuel Mudd's farm, the swollen leg made the boot impossible to pull off. Mudd carefully sliced the leather near the ankle and discovered a broken fibula about two inches above the joint.
- Second half
In what book does a woman raise her right hand and lie about a man standing beside her?
✓ Answer
Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
Mary Surratt swore before God that she had never seen Lewis Powell, even though he had visited her boardinghouse multiple times. Her obvious lie helped seal her conviction and eventual execution as a conspirator.
- Second half
In what book does a fugitive open a small date book and scribble his own letter to history?
✓ Answer
Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
Furious that the newspapers weren't printing his earlier explanation, Booth took out his pocket date book in the pine thicket and began scribbling his reasons for committing the murder. The diary later ended up among the evidence on Stanton's desk.
- Near the end
In what book does a stranger ask a farmer to take in a wounded soldier for a day?
✓ Answer
Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
Willie Jett brought Booth to the Garrett farm and asked Richard Garrett to take in a wounded Confederate soldier. Garrett, glad his own sons had returned from the war, agreed. He had no idea he was sheltering Lincoln's killer.
