BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Jerome Rogers is shot by a police officer on December 8 while playing alone with a toy gun in an empty Chicago lot near his home. The book opens moments after Jerome's death, with his ghost watching his family grieve and recognizing that he can no longer eat, sleep, or be seen by anyone he loves. Jerome is a kid who kept his head down, protected his little sister Kim, comforted his worried grandmother, and recently made his first real friend, a new student named Carlos. Now, hovering over the wreckage of a family torn apart by his killing, Jerome discovers he is not alone: another ghost boy has been watching him, and the two are somehow connected through a long and painful history that Jerome is only beginning to understand.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Ghost Boys
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 Ghost Boys. 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 two seventh grade kids eat sandwiches squatting over toilets in the highest floor bathroom?
✓ Answer
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Jerome teaches Carlos to plant his feet on the toilet seat so no one can see his shoes from outside the stall. They become friends in this strange hiding spot, eventually drumming on the stall walls together.
- First half
In what book does a 1955 spirit say he had polio that paralyzed his muscles and made him stutter?
✓ Answer
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Sitting on the church steps, Emmett Till tells Jerome about his polio that left him with a limp and a stutter. He says he whistled, especially on W sounds, because he had the hardest time making words come out right.
- First half
In what book does a 9-1-1 dispatcher fail to tell officers the caller said the weapon was a toy?
✓ Answer
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
At the hearing, a young 9-1-1 operator admits the original caller reported a toy gun. She did not pass that crucial detail to Officer Moore, a parallel to the Tamir Rice case.
- Second half
In what book do parents stop laughing, stop hugging, and just work and sleep after a child dies?
✓ Answer
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Jerome describes how his parents have become robots after his death. Ma barely eats or speaks, and Pop passes the closed bedroom door without checking on Kim, both of them just trying to forget.
- Second half
In what book does a former bully offer his hand and tell a sister, "I'm sorry about your brother"?
✓ Answer
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Eddie steps down on the stairs and offers his hand to Carlos, then turns to Kim to apologize. Kim is smart enough not to call him a bully and simply says thanks, creating a fragile peace.
- Near the end
In what book do two families picnic on a child's grave on November 1?
✓ Answer
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The Rogers and Rodriguez families come together at the cemetery for All Saints' Day and the Day of the Dead. They lay chicken legs, cornbread, and tamales on the mound, celebrating life and remembrance together.
