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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Anna spends part of every summer in the Hawaiian rainforest with her grandmother, Tūtū, who wants her to learn the family's moʻolelo, the stories passed down for generations. Anna has decided the old legends are not real, repeating "curses aren't real" to herself like a mantra, and she would rather do touristy things that might impress her friends back home in Colorado. To prove her point, she picks a red lehua blossom from an ʻōhiʻa tree, even though her best friend Kaipo tries to stop her. The ground splits open, and a hawk the size of a small plane swoops down and carries Kaipo away. Racked with guilt, Anna heads alone into the jungle to bring him back, and a cranky talking bat named Ilikea soon joins her on the search, which leads toward the fire goddess Pele. Scrambling through collapsing lava tubes, bargaining with a giant lizard guarding a waterfall, and learning a hula she never thought she would need, Anna has to figure out how far she will go, and how much she actually believes, to save her friend.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Lei and the Fire Goddess
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 Lei and the Fire Goddess. 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 picking a red ʻōhiʻa lehua blossom seem to set off an earthquake?
✓ Answer
Lei and the Fire Goddess by Malia Maunakea
To prove to Kaipo that Tūtū's legends are just stories, Anna picks a lehua blossom even though he keeps swatting her hand away. According to the legend Anna knows, picking it should only make it rain, but instead the ground starts to shake and a sinkhole swallows the jungle.
- First half
In what book does a snout framed by four curved ivory tusks poke out of the ferns?
✓ Answer
Lei and the Fire Goddess by Malia Maunakea
On the trail up the mountain, Anna freezes as an enormous boar snout with four curved tusks pushes through the ferns and then pulls back. Ilikea says she didn't see it and that boars don't eat people, which doesn't make Anna feel much better.
- First half
In what book does a made-up story feature an ice-hearted girl who crushes a butterfly and eats it?
✓ Answer
Lei and the Fire Goddess by Malia Maunakea
Anna's story for the moʻo is about a girl with a heart of ice whom a butterfly offers to help become like the other children, but she claps it dead and eats its body. The shocking twist makes the moʻo collapse with laughter, and the tale grows out of Anna's memories of meeting Hennley.
- Second half
In what book does a friendly girl on a rainforest trail ask, "Lilikoi or lychee?"
✓ Answer
Lei and the Fire Goddess by Malia Maunakea
Anna braces for ʻUla to ask whether she is from around here, but instead ʻUla wants to know her favorite shave ice flavor. Anna picks half strawberry, half li hing mui, and the easy chat is such a relief after her tense talks with Hennley that she feels she can finally do this conversation thing.
- Second half
In what book does a girl realize her bare foot is standing in a campfire without getting burned?
✓ Answer
Lei and the Fire Goddess by Malia Maunakea
Anna tests the moʻo's scale against a small campfire and presses her hair band into it, turning it into a full-body shield. She is so focused on believing that she steps right into the fire before noticing the scale has stretched under her foot too.
- Near the end
In what book does a girl finally nail a tricky kneeling backbend while dancing at a crater's edge?
✓ Answer
Lei and the Fire Goddess by Malia Maunakea
For days Anna could not do the kneeling backbend in Kamapuaʻa's hula, but at Pele's crater she pours all her hopes into it and rises back up. She finishes the whole dance without missing a single step or word.
