BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSVirgil Salinas is eleven and painfully shy. His big, loud family calls him Turtle because he refuses to come out of his shell, and after a rough last day of sixth grade, he finally asks Kaori Tanaka, a girl in the neighborhood who calls herself a psychic, for help with something he can barely admit out loud: there is a girl at school he has wanted to talk to all year, and he has run out of time. That girl is Valencia Somerset, who is deaf, wears hearing aids, reads lips, and is teaching herself sign language, and who has decided that being on her own all summer sounds a lot easier than trying to make new friends. When Virgil heads into the woods near his house on an errand for Kaori, a bully named Chet Bullens throws his backpack, guinea pig and all, down an old abandoned well, and Virgil climbs down after it. As Saturday stretches into evening and Virgil never comes home, Kaori, her little sister Gen, and Valencia end up searching for him together, in a day that ties all four kids together in ways none of them saw coming.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Hello, Universe
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 Hello, Universe. 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 boy smuggle his guinea pig to an appointment inside a backpack?
✓ Answer
Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
Virgil read that guinea pigs should never live alone, so he pads his backpack with swiped fleece blankets and brings Gulliver along. That choice is what puts Gulliver in danger later.
- First half
In what book does a grandmother advise a boy to "always survey a room when you enter it"?
✓ Answer
Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
Lola startles Virgil at the kitchen table because he walked right past her and poured too much milk on his cereal. Her advice sounds like a joke, but it fits a grandmother who is always watching for signs and trouble.
- First half
In what book does a church pamphlet tell a deaf girl that only listeners can hear?
✓ Answer
Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
Two church visitors hurry away as soon as Valencia points to her ear, leaving her holding a pamphlet whose slogan is accidentally hilarious. She notes that she actually would have listened if they had stayed to talk.
- Second half
In what book do clouds crack open and rain laughing gas on people drinking from golden goblets?
✓ Answer
Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
Virgil invents this version of Bali while he is trapped, since his parents keep brochures and talk about the place constantly. In his imagination it is guarded by sun gods, and nobody there cares whether you hide in your shell.
- Second half
In what book do three girls search the woods for a rock with scales, small as a pigeon egg?
✓ Answer
Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
Kaori insists her ceremony requires a snakeskin agate to help find lost things. Valencia points out that those stones turn up near water, so Kaori decides any scaly rock plus their energy will have to do.
- Near the end
In what book does a bully sit in his driveway staring at a basketball hoop a million miles away?
✓ Answer
Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
Chet is afraid he will not make the team, since he already failed at Little League and his father believes you are nothing unless you excel at something. For once Virgil sees him looking small.
