BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSFourteen-year-old Erin Rowe is angry, hurt, and reluctant when her grandmother puts her on a bus to visit her mother, Lannie, who walked out on the family nearly a year ago with no real explanation. After losing her bus ticket at a rest stop in Big Pine, California, Erin ends up hitchhiking and falls in with Mae, a chatty, impulsive girl, and her brother Levi, who are driving into the Sierra Nevada to hike to Chicken Springs Lake. Erin, who has backpacked these mountains with her outdoorsy grandmother, joins them on the trail. When a violent electrical storm explodes on Cottonwood Pass and Mae panics and runs the wrong way down the mountain, Erin chases after her. The two girls end up on the wrong side of the Sierra Nevada with little food, no tent, no sleeping bags, and no way to signal for help, setting off a six-day fight for survival in one of the most rugged wilderness areas in the lower forty-eight states.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Death Mountain
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 Death Mountain. 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 hail start as the size of frozen peas and grow to the size of walnuts?
✓ Answer
Death Mountain by Sherry Shahan
The huge hailstones bounce higher than the hikers' heads during the deadly storm on the ridge. The growing ice shows that this is no ordinary cloudburst, and it terrifies everyone, even the mule.
- First half
In what book do two girls weave a funnel shaped fish trap from twigs tied together with dental floss?
✓ Answer
Death Mountain by Sherry Shahan
Erin shows Mae how Indigenous people built basket traps that let fish swim in but not out. Mae's makeup bag dental floss becomes the only cord they have, and Mae's nail clippers do the cutting.
- First half
In what book does a dog return from across a river carrying a hiking boot with blood on the heel?
✓ Answer
Death Mountain by Sherry Shahan
Sequoia drops a broken in boot at the girls' feet, and Erin spots blood on the heel. They both immediately realize this might be the first real clue to the missing ranger they've been hearing about.
- Second half
In what book do hikers list "the three Ws" as water, warmth, and wool?
✓ Answer
Death Mountain by Sherry Shahan
Erin counts up what they have from the dead ranger's gear and says they finally have the hiker's three Ws. It's a small piece of confidence after days of being underprepared in the Sierra Nevada.
- Second half
In what book do girls argue in a storm shelter and one snaps, "At least my mom didn't ditch me"?
✓ Answer
Death Mountain by Sherry Shahan
Trapped under a hail-battered shelter, Mae loses her temper and throws Erin's missing mom in her face. She apologizes immediately, but it cuts Erin deep. The fight ends with the girls finally talking honestly about their families.
- Near the end
In what book does a girl free her trapped friend by climbing up with nail clippers in her mouth?
✓ Answer
Death Mountain by Sherry Shahan
When Erin gets stuck on a cliff with her knife jammed, Mae climbs up with nail clippers between her teeth and snips the quick-release ring loose. It's the moment Mae proves she's truly become Erin's equal in the wilderness.
