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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTold in short poems in her own voice, this novel in verse follows Hekate, the daughter of two Titans, born on a night when a thousand stars fall during the Titanomachy, the war between the Titans and the new gods of Olympus. When a wounded messenger brings word that all is lost, her mother flees with her across a ruined world, hunted by two Olympian gods, until the only place left to hide is the Underworld. There she leaves five-year-old Hekate with Styx, the fanged goddess of a river that can destroy immortal voices. Raised among ghosts and old bones, with a kind ferryman as her first friend, Hekate has no known powers and no idea what kind of goddess she is meant to be, so she sets out to find her purpose.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Hekate: The Witch
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 Hekate: The Witch. 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 grind moly from her hidden garden into a sweet drink for her daughter?
✓ Answer
Hekate: The Witch by Nikita Gill
In a secret garden untouched by the war, Asteria grows soft grey moly, a plant the narrator says first grew in her mother's garden. She grinds it with mortar and pestle into a lavender-honey-rain drink and promises Hekate it will make her strong.
- First half
In what book do lessons in water, forging and wind all fail to reveal a girl's powers?
✓ Answer
Hekate: The Witch by Nikita Gill
Styx, Pallas and Charon each try to help Hekate discover her powers. Styx takes her to a lake of tears to control water, Pallas shows her fire and forging, and Charon teaches her to manipulate the winds, but nothing works.
- First half
In what book do two serpent lovers coil around an oak staff and turn to gold at a trickster's touch?
✓ Answer
Hekate: The Witch by Nikita Gill
In Elysium, Hermes sets a polished oak staff he calls Prometheus' last gift between Cadmus and Harmonia. The serpents coil around it facing each other, and at his touch they turn to cold gold, which Hermes says his friends asked for because they were tired of that place.
- Second half
In what book are cave walls painted with the Titanomachy in rich purples, bright yellows and crimson?
✓ Answer
Hekate: The Witch by Nikita Gill
Following the crystal light, Hekate notices paintings of battle along the tunnel and realizes with a cold shock that they show the war between the Titans and the Olympians, "the cruelty of my family." Her hands shake, but she calms herself with a lavender potion and keeps going rather than accept defeat.
- Second half
In what book does a smiling crone tell a girl, "The answer you seek is not here"?
✓ Answer
Hekate: The Witch by Nikita Gill
Hekate has crossed the Underworld to ask the Fates her divine purpose. The crone only smiles, says her journey was not in vain, adds that "even in barren ground there are flowers that find a way to grow," and returns to her loom.
- Near the end
In what book does the god of peaceful death plant a crimson crystal rose for every mortal who dies?
✓ Answer
Hekate: The Witch by Nikita Gill
When Hekate leads Hermes through the Realm of Night to ask Thanatos' permission for her plan against the giants, they find his palace garden of black grass and crimson crystal roses. He is preparing to plant more roses, one for every mortal that has died, and the garden is now more red than black, a tenderness Hekate knows he does not like to admit to.
