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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSThe book opens on a Sunday afternoon in April 1935, with eleven-year-old Ray Nicholson far from his farm, running from the biggest, blackest dust cloud he has ever seen. Then it jumps back about two weeks. Ray lives with Ma, Pa, and their tough old cow, Lucy, on a wheat farm near the tiny town of Windy Plains, in the Texas Panhandle. After four years of drought, nothing will grow, dust storms keep rolling in, and people keep leaving for California. Ray knows his parents are worried about money, and lately just hearing the town banker's name makes them cringe. When Ray is with his best friend, Dolly, nothing really bothers him. She has a loud, honking laugh, big ideas, and a quarter she found in the road that she wants to spend on a banana split they can share. But trouble keeps coming closer to home. A stranger has been sleeping in Ray's barn, and Dolly's five-year-old brother, Skippy, has had a bad cough for weeks.
Free Battle of the Books questions for I Survived the Dust Bowl, 1935
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 I Survived the Dust Bowl, 1935. 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 little boy want to keep a tarantula "like it was a kitten"?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Dust Bowl, 1935 by Lauren Tarshis
Dolly tells Ray that her five-year-old brother, Skippy, woke up with a huge tarantula on his pillow. Skippy wanted the hairy spider as a pet, which makes Ray burst out laughing and think what a real pip Skippy is.
- First half
In what book is the biggest kid at school strong enough to carry a kindergartner in each arm?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Dust Bowl, 1935 by Lauren Tarshis
Matthew Raskin could even carry a third kindergartner on his back. He is as kind as he is strong, teaching Ray to throw a ball, showing Dolly how to whistle with two fingers, and always letting younger kids win at marbles.
- First half
In what book does an old cowboy say he once boiled part of his own boot to eat?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Dust Bowl, 1935 by Lauren Tarshis
Over Ma's bean stew, Mr. Jenkins tells about getting lost in a blizzard for two days and melting snow in his tin cup and boiling part of his left boot. When Ray asks how it tasted, he answers that it tasted like a piece of old boot, and even Ma and Pa laugh.
- Second half
In what book does a father, worried about the chicken coop latch, promise he'll be five minutes?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Dust Bowl, 1935 by Lauren Tarshis
Pa breaks the number one rule and heads out into the storm because the family has only six chickens left, and they depend on the eggs. He puts on heavy goggles, wraps his face in a scarf, and will tie a rope from the porch post to his waist so it can lead him back.
- Second half
In what book does a banker give a farm family thirty days to start making payments?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Dust Bowl, 1935 by Lauren Tarshis
Mr. Sullivan tells Ma and Pa that after thirty days the bank will take the house and the land. Ray, hiding nearby, feels like he might be sick. This farm is all his family has.
- Near the end
In what book does a boy thrown from a train consider thanking the pile he landed in?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Dust Bowl, 1935 by Lauren Tarshis
After the shove, Ray lands clear of the tracks in a big pile of dust instead of on the hard, sunbaked ground. He figures Dolly would tell him to say thank you to it for saving his life.
