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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Carmen Grasso is an Italian immigrant living in Boston's crowded North End with her father, who came to America four years ago for a better life. Carmen loves school, her best friend Tony, and an old mare named Rosie at the nearby stable. On an ordinary afternoon in January 1919, Carmen and Tony wander over to the massive molasses storage tank that looms over their neighborhood, and the tank begins to groan, bulge, and shoot metal bolts through the air. Within seconds, two million gallons of molasses explode into the streets in a wave twenty feet tall, swallowing everything in its path, including Carmen.
Free Battle of the Books questions for I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919
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 Molasses Flood, 1919. 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 hide a perfect math test inside her copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919 by Lauren Tarshis
Carmen got a 100 on her math test but didn't want to show it to Tony, who had flunked. She slips it into the pages of the book her teacher, Mr. Lawrence, had lent her.
- First half
In what book do a horse's hoofbeats on cobblestones feel to a sad rider like hammers pounding on her heart?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919 by Lauren Tarshis
As Carmen rides Rosie toward the harbor park, she imagines saying goodbye to Mr. Vita, Mrs. Grasso, and Tony. Each clop of the mare's shoes on the stones echoes her dread of being shipped back to Italy.
- First half
In what book does a girl see a twenty-foot wall of syrup swallow buildings and wagons on Commercial Street?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919 by Lauren Tarshis
The wave is described as at least twenty feet tall and swirling in every direction. It smashes buildings to pieces and picks up sheds, wagons, horses, and men, which matches the real historical disaster.
- Second half
In what book does a newsboy shout "DEADLY FLU HITS BOSTON!" as a girl hurries home?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919 by Lauren Tarshis
As Carmen rushes toward her sick father, she suddenly notices the newsboy's front-page headline and realizes it applies to her own family. This is the Spanish influenza of 1918.
- Second half
In what book does a girl receive brand-new boots for Christmas after her old ones turned her toenails black?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919 by Lauren Tarshis
The Grassos give Carmen new boots for Christmas, a detail that later makes her feel guilty when she suspects they can't afford to keep her and plan to send her back to Italy.
- Near the end
In what book does a little boy bellow "She's alive!" when he bursts into a hospital room?
✓ Answer
I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919 by Lauren Tarshis
The three littlest Grasso kids stampede into Carmen's hospital room. Frankie throws his hands up and bellows the joyful announcement, making everyone laugh through their tears.
