BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Jack lives in Brooklyn with his older foster brother Matt, a serious fifteen-year-old who thinks through every problem, and his twin foster sister Ava, a fearless engineer who builds drones and submarines from spare parts. The three of them are something unusual: former foster kids who legally separated from their foster parents and now look after themselves. When Ava's homemade drone gets captured by a mysterious building across the street, their attempt to retrieve it lands them in the lab of inventor Henry Witherspoon, and soon all three are working for him. Six months later, Hank invites them to Antarctica, where he is set to judge a science competition called the Clutterbuck Prize. But when they arrive at McMurdo Station, they learn that Hank's brilliant scientist friend Anna Donatelli has disappeared under strange circumstances, and Jack starts to suspect that something is very wrong.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World
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 Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World. 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 robot fling lumps of pizza dough at three kids in an elevator?
✓ Answer
Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye and Gregory Mone
A tall red humanoid robot malfunctions and starts hurling yellowish clumps at the siblings as they pile into an old elevator. Jack tastes one and realizes it is just pizza dough, since the machine was built to serve food.
- First half
In what book does a man introduce himself as the Facilities Engineer while cleaning a trashed room?
✓ Answer
Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye and Gregory Mone
A thin man with grimy fingernails is sweeping the missing scientist's room and proudly calls himself the Facilities Engineer, or F. E. He notices odd shiny globs all over that smell familiar but that he cannot place.
- First half
In what book is a blue luxury snow vehicle named Rambler guarded as the director's prized possession?
✓ Answer
Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye and Gregory Mone
During the equipment tour, Jack admires a gleaming blue vehicle with shoulder-high tires named Rambler. An instructor pulls him back and warns it is the director's pride and she will know if they even look at it too long.
- Second half
In what book does a boy joke that his brother just drank creature pee?
✓ Answer
Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye and Gregory Mone
When the group realizes the creatures excrete fresh water, Jack teases Matt for happily drinking what the animals released. Jack's gross sense of humor keeps surfacing even during big scientific breakthroughs.
- Second half
In what book is a boy left behind while everyone else flies off to search by helicopter?
✓ Answer
Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye and Gregory Mone
Jack is grounded because of his bad cough while the others fly out to look for Anna. Being abandoned stings him deeply, since he was the one who first sensed something was wrong with her disappearance.
- Near the end
In what book does a man wave smelly socks at a billionaire on a video screen?
✓ Answer
Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye and Gregory Mone
At the awards ceremony, Levokin pulls off his boots and shoves his socks at the prize sponsor's camera. The stink fighting fabric had clearly worn off, making people gag and even faint.
