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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSLiv is a quiet Year Eight girl in England whose best friend since Year Three, Karly, has started dropping her for a meaner new crowd. Her grandmother Bubbe is prickly and secretive, has never talked about her difficult childhood, and is losing her memory, so the family moves her into a care home. When Liv's history class is told to research their family trees, she teams up with a new friend, Gabi. While they help clear out Bubbe's house, Liv finds an old photo in the attic marked Amsterdam, July 1942, and Gabi finds a locked chest full of papers, including a letter written in Dutch. Liv believes the girl with the forced smile in the photo is Bubbe, and she can't stop wondering about the bold-looking girl labeled Hannie, the name Bubbe once called Liv by mistake. The story also goes back to 1942, when two Jewish sisters, quiet Mila and fearless Hannie, are sent away by their parents to live under false names with a family in Amsterdam, and Hannie is soon drawn into the Dutch resistance.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Code Name Kingfisher
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 Code Name Kingfisher. 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 grandmother whisper that the secret ingredient in her chocolate cake is brandy?
✓ Answer
Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler
As Liv and Dad take Bubbe to Rocklands for the weekend, Bubbe slips her arm through Liv's and whispers "Brandy," then "The secret ingredient." Liv bursts out laughing when she realizes Bubbe means the chocolate cake she used to bake every Friday, and Bubbe calls it their secret.
- First half
In what book does a teenager make a little girl laugh by comparing a soldier's mustache to a rat's tail?
✓ Answer
Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler
Walking little Tess, about seven or eight, across Amsterdam, Hannie acts like a big sister out for a stroll and points out sights along the way. Tess laughs at the joke, and when a group of soldiers passes straight by them, Hannie realizes how invisible a girl with a younger child really is.
- First half
In what book does a friend's grandmother dance around the kitchen singing along to her old band's recording?
✓ Answer
Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler
Gabi tells Liv that her grandma once sang reggae and ska in a band, and even after she began forgetting day-to-day things, she remembered every word of an old song. When Gabi's mother played a recording of a gig, her grandma got up and danced, and Gabi and her parents joined in.
- Second half
In what book do two sisters laugh till they cry after one flirts her way past three soldiers?
✓ Answer
Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler
Walking toward three soldiers, Hannie swings her hips, twirls her hair and greets them in a throaty voice. Around the corner she calls them idiots, and soon both sisters are bent double with laughter.
- Second half
In what book does a boy say his dog can't keep up with his bent, rusted old bicycle?
✓ Answer
Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler
When the kids on the street set off on a bike ride, Will leaves Bo at home and turns up on a rickety bike that looks ancient. Mila teases him about whether he'll still be in one piece by the end of the road, and he laughs.
- Near the end
In what book does a girl shout at a website that keeps asking if she meant another spelling?
✓ Answer
Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler
Liv is searching an old Amsterdam records site for a boy from Bubbe's past, and it keeps suggesting a slightly different spelling. She tries the suggestion anyway, gets one result with an address, and sits down to write a letter.
