BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Shenice "Lightning" Lockwood is the catcher and captain of the Fulton Firebirds, the first all-Black team in the Dixie Youth Softball Association, and she has her sights set on leading them all the way to the league championship. But when her father takes her into the long-sealed attic above her late grandfather's bedroom, she discovers a very real trunk full of her great-grandfather JonJon's baseball mementos, and a mysterious leather-bound journal she can't bring herself to open. Then her mother takes her to meet Uncle Jack, the last living Lockwood of his generation, who tells Shenice that JonJon, once on the verge of breaking into the Major Leagues in 1947, was framed for stealing a famous Joe DiMaggio glove at a charity event, ruining his career, and that Jack knows exactly who did it.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Fast Pitch
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 Fast Pitch. 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 team van have a firebird painted on the hood with wings turning to flames?
✓ Answer
Fast Pitch by Nic Stone
The outside of the Firebus is black with a firebird painted on the hood, and its wings become flames wrapping around the sides. The van is a source of team pride and always turns heads on the road.
- First half
In what book does a father cry at breakfast and give his daughter his high school baseball championship ring?
✓ Answer
Fast Pitch by Nic Stone
Shenice's daddy Victor taps his coffee mug to get the family's attention, then bursts into tears of pride. He slides his high school state championship ring off his pinkie and gives it to Shenice, saying she earned it by leading the first all-Black team to a district title.
- First half
In what book does a girl pretend to throw a ball at a boy who prefers computer coding to sports?
✓ Answer
Fast Pitch by Nic Stone
Scoob is sitting on Shenice's porch steps staring at the gray house next door that used to be his grandmother's. Shenice yells "Catch" and pretends to throw, and Scoob hollers and ducks because sports really aren't his thing.
- Second half
In what book does a team pull into a parking lot full of cars with Confederate flag emblems on them?
✓ Answer
Fast Pitch by Nic Stone
When the all-Black girls' softball team arrives in a little country town to play the Midville Mighty Ducks, they are unsettled by the parking lot full of Confederate flag emblems. Coach Nat and Ms. Erica pull them into a dugout huddle to talk about it before the game.
- Second half
In what book does a doctor turn out to be the mother of the rival team's blond shortstop?
✓ Answer
Fast Pitch by Nic Stone
While Shenice visits her great-granduncle in the hospital, the attending doctor mentions her own daughter plays for the Stockwood Sharks. It is an unexpected and uncomfortable coincidence.
- Near the end
In what book does a girl tap floorboards with a stick listening for a hollow sound?
✓ Answer
Fast Pitch by Nic Stone
Searching alone in the dark, Shenice systematically taps every floorboard in the bedroom looking for one that sounds different. She remembers seeing the trick in a movie once.
