BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSFourteen-year-old Debbie Pelbry is sitting in her sister's room one ordinary afternoon, flipping through a magazine, when she makes a quiet, careful wish: that something different, something good, will happen to her. It is a small wish with a lot of qualifications, but it sets the summer in motion. Set in the small neighboring towns of Seldem and Birdvale, the story follows Debbie and her friends through a single spring and summer, a season when everyone seems to be changing into something new. Hector, the friendly boy from down the street, goes to a coffeehouse with his older sister and hears a man play guitar, and that one evening changes everything he wants for himself. Lenny, their mechanical genius neighbor who drifted onto a different track than his old friends, keeps his own quiet counsel. And Patty, Debbie's best friend, talks through the big questions in the dark. The story moves from person to person, braiding together small moments, near-misses, and the criss-crossing paths of ordinary life.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Criss Cross
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 Criss Cross. 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 girl's short necklace pop loose right after she makes a wish?
✓ Answer
Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
Debbie wishes something good would happen while flipping through a magazine. Her necklace flings itself onto a photo, foreshadowing the chain's long journey through the whole book.
- First half
In what book does a boy teach his neighbor to drive a pickup in the driveway?
✓ Answer
Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
Alone with Debbie one Saturday, Lenny offers to teach her first gear and reverse, going back and forth across the gravel driveway.
- First half
In what book does a sister find her brother spinning and shouting his own song alone?
✓ Answer
Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
Trying out an angry shouting voice, Hector jumps and spins while playing, until Rowanne in the doorway says, "It's just you. It sounded like more."
- Second half
In what book does a girl find a hatbox of small dog figurines wrapped in tissue?
✓ Answer
Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
In a hatbox in her closet, Debbie unwraps her mother Helen's porcelain, wooden, and glass dogs. Helen calls them just souvenirs and never says why she does not want them left out.
- Second half
In what book does a girl save a diabetic woman by pouring sugar into orange juice?
✓ Answer
Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
Debbie remembers a soap opera scene and pours sugar into orange juice to revive Mrs. Bruning, who skipped breakfast and is collapsing from low blood sugar.
- Near the end
In what book do friends catch lightning bugs in a grass-lined mason jar at a block party?
✓ Answer
Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
Lightning bugs flickering over the yards lure everyone off the roof. Someone adds grass and taps air holes in the cap while Debbie holds the jar.
