BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSSix days before eighth grade starts in Beckford Palms, Florida, Lily Jo McGrother puts on her mom's red dress and steps outside to practice being herself. Lily knows she is a girl, and her mom, her sister Sarah and her bold best friend Dare are on her side. But her dad orders her back inside, at school she still wears boy clothes and answers to a name that isn't hers, and she needs a parent's signature to start hormone blockers before her body changes. That morning a tall new boy carrying a Dunkin' Donuts bag waves back at her. Norbert Dorfman has just moved from New Jersey to live with his fitness-guru grandmother, and he hates his name until Lily nicknames him Dunkin. He is keeping secrets too, including the bipolar disorder he takes medicine for. Soon the basketball players who bully Lily want tall Dunkin on their side, and Bob, the giant banyan tree Lily named after her late grandfather, is about to be cut down.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Lily and Dunkin
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 Lily and Dunkin. 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 plastic lawn flamingo wear a knitted flamingo hat?
✓ Answer
Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart
At dinner, Lily tells her family about plastic pink flamingos stuck in lawns around the neighborhood, one in a knit cap with a pom-pom and another in a knit flamingo hat. The neighborhood's golf cart guys haul them away and ask Lily and Dunkin if they know who did it.
- First half
In what book does a sign near a girl's favorite tree promise "The community that plays together...stays together!"?
✓ Answer
Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart
The city's sign reads that the lot will be cleared for a new playground and community park, and it is signed by the mayor. Lily realizes her beloved banyan, Bob, is the only thing on the lot that could be cleared.
- First half
In what book must a boy catch a ball off a wall fifty times in a row?
✓ Answer
Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart
Bubbie tells Dunkin to throw the ball against the wall and catch it fifty times in a row without missing. He makes it three times, then five, then two, then seven, and then he quits for the night.
- Second half
In what book does a boy secretly trip his own teammate so their five-person T-shirt costume topples?
✓ Answer
Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart
Squeezed into the middle of a T-shirt built for five, Dunkin trips Bobby Birch on purpose when he spots Lily and Dare coming, so the boys go down in a heap and the girls walk past safely. Lily sees Dunkin smile and knows he did it to protect her.
- Second half
In what book does a best friend check a girl's teeth for lipstick and declare, "All clear, girlfriend"?
✓ Answer
Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart
Lily wears her mom's subtle lipstick as her next small step, and Dare says she's proud of her before pointing out the lipstick on her teeth. Lily holds herself tall on the walk to school because Dare called her "girlfriend."
- Near the end
In what book does a boy afraid of heights climb a banyan at night, clutching a bag of doughnuts?
✓ Answer
Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart
Dunkin is walking past Bob with four Boston Kremes when he sees Lily's family picnicking below and Lily up in the branches. Lily tells him to go around the other side, where there are more things to grab on to, and he climbs up.
