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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Florian Bates reads people and places from tiny clues, a method he calls TOAST, the Theory of All Small Things. After his family moves to Washington, DC, he teaches TOAST to his new neighbor, Margaret Campbell, and she turns out to be a natural. Practicing at the National Gallery of Art, where Florian's mom works, the two friends realize that a sleeping blond tourist and a dark-haired copyist painting a Monet are the same man. Two weeks later, three famous paintings vanish from the museum in the middle of the night, Florian spots clues the grown-ups missed, and the director of the FBI asks him to become a secret consultant. Soon he and Margaret are crossing paths with a feared crime boss called Nic the Knife while also searching for the birth parents of Margaret, who was left at a firehouse as a baby. The book opens with Florian being kidnapped behind a Safeway, then jumps back to show how a seventh grader ended up there.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Framed!
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 Framed!. 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 do Europa trainers show that a napping museum tourist comes from Eastern Europe?
✓ Answer
Framed! by James Ponti
Margaret's big test is a man asleep on a gallery couch, whom Florian nicknames Sleeping Beauty. She finally notices his odd running shoes, and Florian explains that Europa trainers are an Eastern European brand not sold in the States.
- First half
In what book are stolen paintings found tucked in bundled cardboard inside a green recycling Dumpster?
✓ Answer
Framed! by James Ponti
Florian figures out that the paintings were hidden in the trash so a collection truck would carry them out of the museum for the thief. After thirty minutes of digging at the loading dock, FBI agents find all three in a bundle of folded boxes, and the searchers give Florian a round of applause.
- First half
In what book does a fire captain teased for cooking only three things burn the fish sandwiches?
✓ Answer
Framed! by James Ponti
Captain Joseph Abraham is frying fish patties when he realizes Margaret is the baby left at his firehouse twelve years earlier. He is so caught up in the moment that the fish starts smoking, so he hands the spatula to the younger firefighter and goes to talk to his old friend.
- Second half
In what book does an FBI agent play in an all-agent band called Funk Brothers Incorporated?
✓ Answer
Framed! by James Ponti
During the hour-and-a-half drive to Quantico, Florian picks up a few facts about Agent Rivers, like his taste for gourmet coffee and the fact that he is an avid Washington Nationals fan. When Florian asks about a trumpet case in the backseat, Rivers explains that he plays in a band made up entirely of agents that performs at Bureau parties and weddings.
- Second half
In what book does a mom shout, "Seventh grade will be seventh heaven!"?
✓ Answer
Framed! by James Ponti
On the first day at Alice Deal Middle School, Florian's mom takes photos in front of the house and then shouts random encouragement down the driveway. Florian tells her that is exactly why she cannot drive him, and Margaret later threatens to have Mom repeat those pep talks if he will not run for student council.
- Near the end
In what book does a girl feast on cabbage rolls and papanash at an embassy open house?
✓ Answer
Framed! by James Ponti
At the Romanian embassy's festival, Florian searches every room for the crime boss while Margaret searches for food. Her search goes much better, and she is just finishing a papanash, which she calls delicious, when Florian finally spots his target in the library.
