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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSGracie Kim has only snorkeled three times in her life, but it is already her favorite thing in the world, and her dream destination is the Maldives. When she discovers how expensive that trip would be, she does not give up. She remembers her third-grade teacher's advice about taking baby steps and instead plans something more realistic: a spring break trip to Roatán, an island off Honduras that sits on the second-biggest reef in the world. Working for weeks on maps, photos, and flight details, she slowly talks her parents into booking the trip, hoping the whole family will have such a good time snorkeling there that they will want to go to the Maldives next. Her six-year-old brother Ben is coming too, even though he has never been snorkeling and has a track record of accidentally wrecking her best-laid plans. Once the Kims settle into their rental house on the beach, Gracie meets new friends who are working to protect the reef, and starts to learn that coral reefs everywhere, including the one right outside her door, are in far more trouble than she ever realized.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Gracie Under the Waves
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 Gracie Under the Waves. 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 mother show her doubtful daughter an airfare receipt over a dinner of ramen?
✓ Answer
Gracie Under the Waves by Linda Sue Park
On a Sunday evening in late February, Dad makes ramen and Mom hints that somebody mentioned Roatán. When Gracie demands to know for certain, Mom shows her the airfare receipt on her phone and calls her "Sister Skeptic."
- First half
In what book does a boy decide, "If it's a boat, they shouldn't call it a taxi"?
✓ Answer
Gracie Under the Waves by Linda Sue Park
When Dad says they will catch a water taxi to West End for lunch, Ben can't figure out how a taxi could go on the water. Gracie explains that it is a boat, and Ben's answer leaves her unable to decide whether he is right.
- First half
In what book can a dragged anchor destroy hundreds of years of reef growth in less than a minute?
✓ Answer
Gracie Under the Waves by Linda Sue Park
Gracie asks Ian about the smashed strip she saw that morning, and he tells her it is an anchor scar. Kate explains that when an anchor lands on the reef instead of open sand, the moving boat drags it along, crushing everything in its path.
- Second half
In what book do two girls split fries and fried plantains from the kids' menu?
✓ Answer
Gracie Under the Waves by Linda Sue Park
Alina loves fried plantains and Gracie finds it hard to turn down fries, so they order the kids' fried strips with one side each and divide them. Gracie learns that green plantains taste almost like fried potatoes, while ripe ones are sweet like bananas.
- Second half
In what book does a sixth grader settle in with soursop juice and gummy bears to watch Chasing Coral?
✓ Answer
Gracie Under the Waves by Linda Sue Park
While the rest of the family watches Finding Nemo, an old movie Ben loves, Gracie streams Chasing Coral, the documentary Kate recommended about reefs declining because of climate change. She settles in with her drink and snack, thinking everything is perfect.
- Near the end
In what book does a girl think elkhorn coral should have been named moosehorn coral?
✓ Answer
Gracie Under the Waves by Linda Sue Park
Lying on a beach lounger with the fish book, Gracie notices that staghorn coral looks like deer antlers, while elkhorn's flat, broad branches look more like a moose's. She once wrote a science report on deer, elk, and moose, so the name doesn't seem quite right to her.
