BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSEleven-year-old Jackson Barrett has spent his whole life in a tiny log cabin in the Alaskan bush, twenty miles from the nearest store. Then one March evening, Jackson and his parents come home from ice fishing to find giant grizzly tracks in the snow. Mom says it is a "winter bear," a starving grizzly that has woken from hibernation too early, and then they hear it crashing around inside their cabin. Soon the cabin is on fire. The family heads to the seaside town of Valdez to stay with their best friend, Uncle Solly, and Jackson, who has never set foot in a school, has to start fifth grade. His new classmates are friendly, but Jackson doesn't think he needs friends. Then, on Good Friday, Uncle Solly sends him to the crowded waterfront with a note for a friend in a supply ship's crew, and that is where he is when the most powerful earthquake in United States history strikes.
Free Battle of the Books questions for I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964
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 Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964. 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 the darkening sky glow bloodred as flames burst through a cabin roof?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964 by Lauren Tarshis
There is no fire department and there are no neighbors in the bush, so Jackson and his parents can only watch their home burn. Everything they own is inside, from their food to Jackson's homeschooling books and the quilts Mom sewed.
- First half
In what book does a boy drop his toast when he learns he'll be starting school on Monday?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964 by Lauren Tarshis
Jackson has always been homeschooled, but Mom will be working too much on Uncle Solly's house to teach him. He has never set foot inside a real school and protests that he can't do it.
- First half
In what book does a lesson about people walking over from Siberia make a boy imagine saber-toothed tigers?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964 by Lauren Tarshis
Miss Lawrence explains that during the Ice Age part of the Bering Sea was dry land, so her ancestors could walk across. Staring at the map, Jackson pictures an even colder, icier land with giant wolves and bears twice as big as today's grizzlies.
- Second half
In what book does a new student lower his voice to tell classmates, "Wolves don't fight alone"?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964 by Lauren Tarshis
Jackson lowers his voice for the best part of his story, explaining that wolves stick together and fight as a pack. The wolves snap at the grizzly's legs until it gives up and runs into the woods, and Chris throws his arms up and cheers that the wolves win.
- Second half
In what book is a boy sent on Good Friday to hand a note to a sailor?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964 by Lauren Tarshis
Uncle Solly has to work late on the house he's building, so he asks Jackson to take a note down to the loading dock for his buddy in the Chena's crew. Jackson dreads it, because every kid in his class will be on that dock.
- Near the end
In what book does a boy bounce like a ball as his army backpack slams into his head?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964 by Lauren Tarshis
The bridge is shaking so violently that Jackson bounces up and down, and his backpack whacks him in the head over and over. He hopes the other kids made it back to the street, which is exactly where he needs to go.
