BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSBeans Curry is a ten-year-old Conch boy living in Depression-era Key West, Florida, where garbage piles up in the streets, his father is away chasing work in New Jersey, and the best way to make a dime is to dig through trash for milk cans. When a strange man in short pants shows up claiming President Roosevelt sent him to turn the broke, run-down island into a tourist resort, Beans is skeptical, but the bigger problem is closer to home: money is tight, his little brother Kermit is always eating into their earnings, and Beans is tired of getting cheated by adults who lie.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Full of Beans
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 Full of Beans. 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 kid called Too Bad earn his nickname by being terrible at marbles?
✓ Answer
Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
Marvin gets his Key West nickname Too Bad because he is hopeless at marbles. He desperately wants to join the gang, who only let him play when they want an easy win.
- First half
In what book does a boy use his grandmother's stolen girdle to keep a toddler from escaping his crib?
✓ Answer
Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
Kermit accidentally blurts that the narrator uses Nana Philly's girdle to strap Buddy to the crib bars. Their mother eventually finds the missing girdle under the mattress and is mystified.
- First half
In what book do New Dealers in shorts give out free paint, turning houses pink, yellow, and sky blue?
✓ Answer
Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
Mr. Stone's New Dealers offer paint to anyone fixing up their house for tourist season. The garish colors raise eyebrows in town, including a pink house that the narrator says looks like a baby's bottom.
- Second half
In what book does a boy try to steal his teacher's answer sheet during a quiz on European countries?
✓ Answer
Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
During a geography quiz on Europe, the narrator sneaks up to Miss Sugarapple's desk to lift the answer key while she steps out. She returns just as he stuffs it down his pants.
- Second half
In what book does a kid yank brand-new shoes off in pain and toss them in a garbage can?
✓ Answer
Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
Without socks, the new shoes feel like knives in the narrator's heels as he sprints between fire alarm boxes. He chucks them in the first trash can and limps home barefoot.
- Near the end
In what book does a girl slip her hand into a crying boy's during a W. C. Fields picture?
✓ Answer
Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
Silent tears spill down the narrator's face as he watches The Old-Fashioned Way at the late show. Dot, the girl he hates, sits beside him and squeezes his hand until the last credit rolls.
