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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSThirteen-year-old Steven Alper is an eighth grader with thick glasses, braces and a serious drumming habit. He practices every day, and last year he became the first seventh-grade drummer ever admitted to the All-City High School Jazz Band. When his English teacher assigns a journal on "The most annoying thing in the world," Steven picks his five-year-old brother, Jeffrey, who idolizes him, follows him everywhere, embarrasses him in front of Renee Albert, the girl with the locker next to his, and once stirred up a Dangerous Pie of coffee grounds, raw eggs, Coke, bacon and toy cars with Steven's autographed drumsticks. Then one October morning, while Steven is making him oatmeal, Jeffrey falls off a kitchen stool and gets a nosebleed that will not stop. When Steven comes home from school, his mother tells him that Jeffrey has leukemia. As his mother takes Jeffrey to a hospital in Philadelphia and his father goes silent, Steven keeps the news a secret at school, stops doing his homework and pours everything into his drumming, while his friend Annette, a piano prodigy, keeps asking him what is wrong. Steven tells the story himself, and he keeps cracking jokes all through a very hard year.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie
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 Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie. 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 five-year-old with two black eyes decide he looks like a raccoon?
✓ Answer
Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
The morning after his nosebleed, Jeffrey sees his bruised face in the hallway mirror and panics. Steven tells him he does not look like a raccoon, privately thinks he looks more like a deranged anteater, and jokes that raccoon people would take over the streets and haunt the malls if black eyes never healed.
- First half
In what book does a visitor's store-bought dessert earn just "five out of ten for baked goods"?
✓ Answer
Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
Steven scores kind, old Mrs. Jacobs from the accounts payable department and takes points off because her apple pie is store-bought. Jeffrey adds that she smelled of oldness, and her final score is a six.
- First half
In what book does a mother have a DJ stop the music to announce she's picking up her son?
✓ Answer
Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
Mom shows up at the dance in sweatpants, carrying a pajama-clad Jeffrey over her shoulder, because he has a fever and any fever is now an emergency. She rushes Steven out to the car and drives to the hospital.
- Second half
In what book does a big brother sneakily cheat at board games so his little brother keeps winning?
✓ Answer
Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
The steroids made Jeffrey hyper, and he was often home from school, so Steven played with him at least an hour every night. Steven says beating a bald, puffy five-year-old at a board game brought crushing guilt, so he let Jeffrey win over and over, which only made Jeffrey want to play more.
- Second half
In what book does a school counselor advise working on "the things you CAN change"?
✓ Answer
Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
After falling asleep in social studies, Steven asked to see Mrs. Galley and finally told her how out of control he felt. Her advice to stop agonizing over what he couldn't change stuck in his head, and it soon led him to try quitting his paid lessons to save money.
- Near the end
In what book does a pianist in a cast tap the conductor's baton on the stand to pitch a plan?
✓ Answer
Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
Annette asked how many members would have trouble meeting the new service requirement, and about three-quarters of the band raised their hands. She proposed making the All-City concert a benefit for Steven's family, so the band itself could become their service project.
