BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSSixth grader Lucy Bell-Rodriguez has moved from San Francisco to a log cabin in tiny White Pine, Alaska, where her mom is head scientist at a research facility. All winter Lucy has gone to school online with twelve classmates and a teacher, Ms. Grant, who never shows her face on camera and only types in the chat. After being bullied back home, Lucy wants a fresh start, and she can't wait to finally meet everyone in person, especially Josephine, who sews just like she does. The night before in-person school begins, a creepy old photo and the sound of a woman sobbing pop up on her laptop. The next morning she snowshoes through the woods to the address her classmate Mara emailed, passing a dead gull caught in fishing line, and finds a burned-out, abandoned school instead. Mara apologizes for the mix-up, but Lucy's sewing machine starts running by itself, she keeps feeling watched in the woods, and her busy mom won't take her worries seriously. A bright spot is Connor, a shy red-haired boy who loves fishing, and even he warns her to stay away from that school.
Free Battle of the Books questions for I.R.L.
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.R.L.. 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 hand mirror show a girl wearing braids and a floral dress with a lacy collar?
✓ Answer
I.R.L. by Jenny Goebel
In the ruins Lucy lifts an antique hand mirror with a sterling-silver handle, and her reflection shows braids instead of the loose hair under her beanie, and a floral cotton dress with buttons down the front instead of her winter coat. She blinks, the image shimmers away, and she drops the mirror and runs out into the storm.
- First half
In what book does the line on a homemade stick fishing rod remind a girl of a dead gull?
✓ Answer
I.R.L. by Jenny Goebel
Connor shows Lucy how to make a fishing rod from a stick, some line and a hook he keeps in his jacket pocket. The moment he pulls out the line, Lucy thinks of the gull she saw tangled in a tree on her way to school, and Connor notices she looks pale.
- First half
In what book does an old man hastily shut a door on a dusty rocking horse and train set?
✓ Answer
I.R.L. by Jenny Goebel
As Harold leads Lucy down the narrow hallway of his dim cabin, she glimpses an old rocking horse and a train set caked with dust before he quickly pulls the door closed. She wonders who the toys could belong to, since Harold agreed that children are rare in White Pine.
- Second half
In what book does a dad mumble "Must be a bad connection" and hang up on his panicked daughter?
✓ Answer
I.R.L. by Jenny Goebel
With her cabin's electronics going wild, Lucy runs outside and calls her dad, but even though she can hear him perfectly, he can't hear her. After he hangs up, none of her calls or texts will go through, not even her messages begging Mom to come home.
- Second half
In what book does a terrified girl sprawled on the ice turn to face a frightened marmot?
✓ Answer
I.R.L. by Jenny Goebel
Running home through the dark, icy woods, Lucy hears cracks like snapping twigs, slips and lands flat on her back, sure she's about to die. When she turns her head, she sees only a furry marmot whose black eyes look almost as scared as she feels.
- Near the end
In what book does a sixth grader facing rows of giant electronic cabinets wish for "an ax or baseball bat"?
✓ Answer
I.R.L. by Jenny Goebel
Lucy hobbles into the room that holds the facility's computer mainframe, hoping to shut the whole system down, but she has no idea where to start. She wishes Ciara's tour had shown her the power switch, or something to smash it with.
