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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSLeonard is almost three hundred years old, and he was never supposed to be a cat. His species is pure energy from a helium planet, and for his one month on Earth he planned to become a human Yellowstone park ranger. Then he gets distracted practicing a knock-knock joke, drifts off course, and lands in a tree as a striped cat with a crooked tail, just as a tropical storm floods Turtle Beach, South Carolina. Eleven-year-old Olive, who knows loads of animal facts, rows out in the storm to rescue him and names him Leonard after her great-grandpa. Olive is spending the summer with her grandmother Norma, whom she isn't close to, while her mom travels with her boyfriend, Frank, who once told Olive she was "socially unprepared for the real world." Leonard can't speak a single human word, and he soon learns that on Earth he can feel pain, which means he can die. His species will pick him up at Yellowstone National Park at 9:01 a.m. on July 21, and if he misses it, he will be stuck on Earth forever. Yellowstone is at least two thousand miles away, and a cat has no hands, no money, and no way to drive.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Leonard (My Life as a Cat)
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 Leonard (My Life as a Cat). 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 rowing through a storm seem to yell, "I'VE COME TO SHAVE YOU!"?
✓ Answer
Leonard (My Life as a Cat) by Carlie Sorosiak
Olive rows out in a tropical storm to rescue the cat stuck in a tree, and the wind garbles her words. Leonard briefly worries about going bald until she shouts again and he realizes she said save, not shave.
- First half
In what book does a bright red classic car with silver wingtips look like a spaceship?
✓ Answer
Leonard (My Life as a Cat) by Carlie Sorosiak
Q drives Olive, Norma, and Leonard away from the aquarium in his old car and bets they have never seen one this cool. Leonard has barely seen any cars at all, and on this ride his heart races so fast that he has a frightening panic attack.
- First half
In what book does a typed message reveal that the Venusians built Stonehenge?
✓ Answer
Leonard (My Life as a Cat) by Carlie Sorosiak
In a blanket tent late at night, Olive asks Leonard about his home, and he types his answers on her laptop. When she says people still debate who built Stonehenge, he types that the Venusians did it.
- Second half
In what book do penguins circle a girl and bow, each lifting a flipper into the air?
✓ Answer
Leonard (My Life as a Cat) by Carlie Sorosiak
On penguin day at the aquarium, Leonard honks to the colony in their own language and tells them it's all about the girl. Olive once said she'd do just about anything to talk with a penguin, so when they surround her and bow, she grins and cries with happiness.
- Second half
In what book does a girl briefly suggest crossing the country by balloons, like in the movie Up?
✓ Answer
Leonard (My Life as a Cat) by Carlie Sorosiak
Olive keeps brainstorming ways to get Leonard to Yellowstone, and since he told her his planet is made of helium, she wonders about a bunch of balloons like in Up. She quickly admits the idea is silly and asks how he feels about the train instead.
- Near the end
In what book do campers invent a dreadful aquarium theme song with the made-up word "Scary-um"?
✓ Answer
Leonard (My Life as a Cat) by Carlie Sorosiak
At a campground in Nashville, Q strums his ukulele and he and Olive make up a jingle for Turtle Beach Aquarium. Q sings that the fish are "Scary-um," Olive finishes with "aquari . . . fun," and everyone agrees it's a dreadful song, but they laugh under the moonlit sky.
