BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSGround Zero follows two kids in two different times and places, their stories alternating chapter by chapter. Brandon Chavez is a nine-year-old in Brooklyn who ends up at the top of the North Tower of the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001, when the last place he wants to be is with his dad at Windows on the World restaurant, since he's just been suspended from school. Reshmina is an eleven-year-old girl in a mountain village in Afghanistan in 2019, navigating a war she was born into, trying to keep her twin brother Pasoon from joining the Taliban, and dreaming of becoming a teacher. When a plane hits the North Tower and a wounded American soldier stumbles into Reshmina's care on the same September day eighteen years apart, both kids are suddenly trapped in situations that are not their fault and must figure out how to survive, and who to trust, when the world around them is falling apart.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Ground Zero
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 Ground Zero. 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 Pashtun girl in Afghanistan dream of becoming a teacher while gathering firewood for her family?
✓ Answer
Ground Zero by Alan Gratz
Reshmina is an eleven-year-old Pashtun girl in Kunar Province who hauls water, sweeps, and gathers sticks while practicing her English between chores. Her teaching dream collides with her parents' plan to marry her off, and her hope drives the second half of the book's dual narrative.
- First half
In what book do little kids ride a Soviet tank's cannon barrel like a swing set?
✓ Answer
Ground Zero by Alan Gratz
Reshmina passes village boys playing on an abandoned Soviet tank, half-buried with broken treads, pushing the heavy turret uphill so they can ride it back down. The image captures how decades of war have become the backdrop of childhood in her valley.
- First half
In what book do rescuers see a curtain of flaming jet fuel pouring through an open elevator doorway?
✓ Answer
Ground Zero by Alan Gratz
On the 90th floor, Brandon and Richard find five terrified people stuck in a smoking elevator with an iridescent blue waterfall of fire dripping in front of the doors. One woman dashes through and burns horrifically, and moments later the car plunges down the shaft.
- Second half
In what book do escapees clap and cheer for firefighters climbing past them in heavy gear?
✓ Answer
Ground Zero by Alan Gratz
Around the 16th floor, Brandon finally sees firefighters climbing up loaded with pickaxes, hoses, and oxygen tanks. The crowd cheers and pats them on the shoulders, knowing the rescuers are heading toward the fire while everyone else is finally heading away from it.
- Second half
In what book does a grandmother bring out an old blue burqa to disguise a wounded American soldier?
✓ Answer
Ground Zero by Alan Gratz
When Anaa hears the Taliban are coming, she brings out an old burqa and tells the village guard to put it on the blinded soldier. Reshmina worries that his American army boots will give him away, but the costume is enough to get him to safety in the caves.
- Near the end
In what book does a Nokia phone keep ringing under rubble that no one can lift?
✓ Answer
Ground Zero by Alan Gratz
As Brandon's group navigates the dark concourse, a familiar ringtone keeps chiming under fallen ceiling slabs. They have to leave the unseen victim behind for rescue workers, and the unanswered ringing follows them down the hall as they keep walking.
