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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSIgnatius B. Grumply, the grouchy author of the Ghost Tamer books about the ghost detective Bartholomew Brown, hasn't written one in 20 years. He has already spent the $100,000 advance for the next one, and he is two months late. Hoping for a quiet place to write far away from children, he rents a 32½-room Victorian mansion at 43 Old Cemetery Road in Ghastly, Illinois, by mail, before the real estate agent's warning letter can reach him. When he moves in, he finds that the house comes with 11-year-old Seymour Hope and Seymour's cat, Shadow, left behind while Seymour's parents tour Europe. Seymour says his best friend is Olive C. Spence, the ghost of the writer who built the house, who lives in the cupola and, according to local legend, vowed to haunt the place until one of her mysteries is published. Grumply doesn't believe in ghosts, but doors keep slamming, someone bangs on the piano at midnight, and missing library books turn up on the dining room table. Told entirely through letters, notes, manuscript drafts, drawings, and pages from the town newspaper, it is the story of a summer that turns out to be anything but quiet.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Dying to Meet You (43 Old Cemetery Road)
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 Dying to Meet You (43 Old Cemetery Road). 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 ghost remind a boy that being rude to the new guest is her job?
✓ Answer
Dying to Meet You (43 Old Cemetery Road) by Kate Klise
When the grouchy renter arrives, Olive sends Seymour a note on her O.C.S. letterhead telling him there's no need to be rude to their guest. "That's my job, remember?" she adds, and soon she promises to have a little fun with the newcomer first.
- First half
In what book does a boy answer a new rule against lying with his own rule against false accusations?
✓ Answer
Dying to Meet You (43 Old Cemetery Road) by Kate Klise
Seymour fires back with Rule 12 and ends his note with "Hello, Olive?" Grumply replies that he has never stolen a library book in his life and that his name is Ignatius, not Olive.
- First half
In what book does a man end up with four stitches in his left foot and six in his right?
✓ Answer
Dying to Meet You (43 Old Cemetery Road) by Kate Klise
When the chandelier crashes, Grumply steps on shards of glass that puncture his Italian slippers. He writes to his lawyer from the hospital and signs off "With confidence and only a slight limp."
- Second half
In what book is a man still paying off a Siamese cat's diamond collar with emeralds?
✓ Answer
Dying to Meet You (43 Old Cemetery Road) by Kate Klise
Ignatius admits he spent his fortune on his ex-fiancee Nadia, including her Siamese cat with a weakness for caviar-flavored cat food. Not even his lawyer knows that this is how he lost all his money.
- Second half
In what book does a famous author turn a cartwheel during an interview, saying he feels 20 years younger?
✓ Answer
Dying to Meet You (43 Old Cemetery Road) by Kate Klise
Ignatius finally gives The Ghastly Times an interview because he is thrilled about the new book he is writing. He calls himself a new man and admits he used to be selfish and crabby.
- Near the end
In what book does a spy perched in an apple tree watch a basket float back to the house?
✓ Answer
Dying to Meet You (43 Old Cemetery Road) by Kate Klise
In his third report, Frank N. Beans watches apples drop into a basket with nobody picking them. Then the basket floats back to the house all by itself.
