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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSMarty and Grace O'Hara are twins at a boarding school in Switzerland, though nobody would guess it. Marty is tall, wild, and afraid of almost nothing, while Grace is small, brilliant, and afraid of nearly everything, including the childhood nightmares that have suddenly come back. Six months after their famous photojournalist parents go missing in a helicopter crash in the Amazon, an e-mail arrives from an Uncle Travis they never knew they had, and the twins are sent to live with him on Cryptos, his island off the Washington coast. Their uncle, a huge bearded veterinarian who goes by Wolfe, keeps a raven that wears a camera, a teacup poodle that hops into his pocket on command, and a library packed with books about animals science has never proven exist. On their first day his crew rescues a red-haired woman from a kayak far out at sea. She is carrying an egg said to come from the nest of a dinosaur near Lake Télé in the Congo, and Noah Blackwood, a famous TV conservationist, is after it. Wolfe plans to rush to the Congo and send the twins back to school, but an accident in the cargo hold of his jet drops them into the jungle on their own, with a chimp, a poodle, and a long hike ahead of them.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Cryptid Hunters
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 Cryptid Hunters. 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 are dead termites secretly tossed under a headmaster's desk?
✓ Answer
Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith
Before leaving Omega Prep, Marty pretends to spot a termite in Dr. Beasel's office and drops a handful of dead ones while the headmaster is distracted. Later his friend Luther reports that the school was fumigated and everyone got a whole day off, just as Marty predicted.
- First half
In what book does a TV animal expert show off panda triplets that were really stolen in China?
✓ Answer
Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith
Noah Blackwood tells reporters at his Seattle park that the three cubs were born at his Paris Ark and that he raised them himself. None of it is true, because Butch McCall and a hired poacher stole them from three different mothers.
- First half
In what book do two kids fall 18,000 feet riding a supply canister under a yellow parachute?
✓ Answer
Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith
The twins are crawling after Bo in a compartment in the belly of the jet when the automatic supply drop opens the floor beneath them. Grace faints, so Marty straps her to the canister and snags the falling PD before the bright yellow parachute opens.
- Second half
In what book is a padlock picked with a paper clip taken from a Mother's Day card?
✓ Answer
Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith
High in the tree, the trapdoor is padlocked, and only then does Marty remember Wolfe saying a key was taped to the bottom of the ladder. Marty reluctantly hands over the paper clip from the Mother's Day card, one of the last things his mother touched, and Grace uses it with a screwdriver from his pocketknife to pop the lock open.
- Second half
In what book does a forged e-mail give itself away by calling a gadget by the wrong name?
✓ Answer
Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith
While Marty slept by the lake, Butch McCall quietly went through his pockets and took his Gizmo, then used it to send Wolfe an e-mail signed with Marty's name. Wolfe rereads it and tells Laurel what bothers him. It calls the Gizmo a pocket computer, a term Wolfe never uses and has never heard Marty use.
- Near the end
In what book does a girl cut through a hammock's mesh, square by square, to free her trapped arm?
✓ Answer
Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith
Searching the snoring Butch for the Gizmo, Grace finds her Moleskine, his wallet, and a folding knife before she reaches it, just as Butch rolls over and pins her arm. She opens the knife with her teeth and frees herself one square at a time, and later the torn hammock trips Butch as she escapes.
