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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSFor most of American history, schools could legally treat boys and girls very differently, offering strong academic support and real athletic teams to boys while telling girls to hold bake sales if they wanted a team of their own. This book tells the story of Title IX, a short and little-known law passed by Congress in 1972 that banned sex discrimination in any school receiving federal money. It follows the lawmakers, government officials, and student athletes who wrote the law, argued over what it should require, and fought to keep it from being weakened or wiped out entirely. Along the way, it explains why this brief, plainly worded law grew into one of the more fiercely debated civil rights measures in modern America, and how it reshaped what girls and women could expect from their schools.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX: The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America
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 Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX: The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America. 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 congresswoman jokingly propose paying congressmen more than congresswomen?
✓ Answer
Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX: The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America by Karen Blumenthal
Edith Green asked a key committee member from Georgia to introduce a "little old bill" paying male members of Congress more, since men supposedly did more work. When he sputtered that women have to work harder than men, she reminded him that her equal pay bill had been languishing before his committee for years.
- First half
In what book does a young runner practice in a long-jump pit dug into the family garden?
✓ Answer
Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX: The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America by Karen Blumenthal
Doris Brown's parents were uncomfortable with such a tomboy and told her to use her energy working in the family's enormous garden instead of running for a club. After a year of begging they gave in, and she trained on the road in her saddle shoes and in a long-jump pit dug into that garden.
- First half
In what book does a staffer joke that an official never played anything "other than library"?
✓ Answer
Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX: The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America by Karen Blumenthal
An HEW staffer made this joke about Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who had been a sickly kid who focused more on his studies than on sports. Even so, the crucial call on whether schools had to offer sports teams for girls as well as boys fell to him.
- Second half
In what book does a junior high math competition offer a tie clasp as first prize?
✓ Answer
Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX: The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America by Karen Blumenthal
The book uses this prize to show how old-fashioned attitudes sent girls the message that girls weren't very good at math. Some male teachers told girls they didn't need advanced math to be wives and mothers, and some parents kept their daughters out of challenging math programs.
- Second half
In what book do college women golfers get just one golf ball per competitive round?
✓ Answer
Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX: The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America by Karen Blumenthal
At the University of Georgia in 1978, the women's sports budget had grown to $120,000, but the men received $2.5 million. On the golf team, the men got all the golf balls they needed, while the women got one for each competitive round they played.
- Near the end
In what book does a hospital allow a surgeon in training to take a year off for Olympic softball?
✓ Answer
Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX: The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America by Karen Blumenthal
Dot Richardson had earned her medical degree and begun a residency in orthopedic surgery when softball made its Olympic debut in 1996, so the hospital let her take a year off to practice and train. After the U.S. team won gold, the hospital even gave her a second week off to visit Disney World and the White House.
