BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSEleven-year-old Olive Miracle Martin lives in Wildwood, Tennessee, a mountain town full of birds. She was born with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), so her bones break easily, and she gets around in two wheelchairs with names, sparkly Dolly and motorized Reba. Olive is tired of people seeing her only as fragile. After a stranger at church loudly prays for her to be healed, she convinces her parents to let her leave homeschool for Macklemore Middle School, where she hopes to find a best friend and show everyone there is more to her than her bones. At the same time, strange white feathers begin falling over town like snow. On Olive's first day, her teacher tells an old legend about a tiny hummingbird that grants wishes, and a riddle that says the bird hides "where fear and wonder both collide." This year the blue moon in the riddle rises on May first, the same night as the school play Olive longs to be part of. Olive teams up with Grace Cho, a classmate who builds doghouses and wears homemade wings, and Grace names their team the BlumeBird Society. Their hunt for clues leads to an old yearbook, a gruff old man with a ferret, and a famous baker. Olive is keeping a secret wish for bones that won't break, and she wonders what her quiet stepbrother, Hatch, does on his walks into the woods every night.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Hummingbird
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 Hummingbird. 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 girl arrive at class wearing wide cardboard wings and carrying a toolbox?
✓ Answer
Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd
This is how Olive first sees Grace Cho, an entrepreneur in pin-covered overalls who builds custom doghouses. Grace says she made the wings for someone else in the school play, but Olive tells her, "If you made them, they're yours."
- First half
In what book does a theater teacher suggest a new girl could play a tree?
✓ Answer
Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd
Mrs. Matheson isn't sure Olive can use the stage, so she offers to find her a spot down on the ground, like a tree. Olive's heart deflates like a sad old birthday balloon, since she'd like to read for a speaking part.
- First half
In what book does a boy read alone on the high bleachers with a sloth hooked around his neck?
✓ Answer
Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd
During dodgeball, Olive spots Hatch sitting far from everyone with one of the school's therapy animals, a sloth in a green vest. Grace explains you can hold him whenever you feel anxious, which makes Olive wonder what Hatch is anxious about.
- Second half
In what book does an old man recall dancing on a porch with his brother, singing into broomsticks?
✓ Answer
Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd
Luther tells Olive and Grace that as boys, he and his brother Marvin sat by the door of Ruth's, a bar on the edge of town, every afternoon before it opened, while Ruth cranked up the jukebox for them. That's where the brothers first overheard the legend of the wish-granting bird.
- Second half
In what book do dandelions burst out of doorknobs as a school's hallways suddenly bloom?
✓ Answer
Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd
Miss Snow calls Olive and Grace out of the library to see Macklemore's halls covered in ivy, lilies and moss, while the second graders' paper butterflies fly off their door. First Maddie blames mold, Grace insists it's magic, and Miss Snow says this is only the beginning.
- Near the end
In what book does a dad put on "Eleanor" and dance with his daughter in the kitchen?
✓ Answer
Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd
When Olive says she can't dance in the play, Jupiter plays "Eleanor" by the Avett Brothers, her favorite band, bows and helps her stand so they can dance their own way. He tells her that anywhere and everywhere, she dances, echoing Nester Tuberose's words.
