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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSMila Brennan is a seventh grader who loves playing trumpet, because as soon as she starts playing it feels like a wide-open blue sky. On her friend Omi's twelfth birthday, Mila, Zara and Max surprise Omi with a giant O made of pebbles on the blacktop, until four boys from the basketball team, Callum, Leo, Dante and Tobias, crash their birthday hug and Callum's hand stays on Mila's fuzzy green sweater. After that the boys won't leave her alone. They trick her into a hug, hug her after she says no, crowd her on the bus and make comments that leave her feeling awful, and one of them claims her sweater brings them luck at basketball. Zara says the boys are just being friendly, Mila starts to wonder what the boys see when they look at her, and a counselor tells her to ignore them. Home is hard too, since her dad left years ago, money is tight and her mom is stressed about a difficult new boss. Then her mom tries out a new fitness club offering two free weeks of classes, and Mila peeks into a karate class where her classmate Samira punches, blocks and yells with total confidence. Mila wonders if she could ever be that sure of herself.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Maybe He Just Likes You
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 Maybe He Just Likes You. 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 band member privately call a teacher's favorites Pets Number One, Two, and Three?
✓ Answer
Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee
Mila secretly thinks of Samira on clarinet, Annabel on saxophone, and Callum on trumpet as Ms. Fender's pets. Sure enough, when the seventh grade section leaders are announced, all three get picked.
- First half
In what book does a girl imagine a camera zooming out from a goldfish bowl to the whole planet?
✓ Answer
Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee
Walking Delilah to the park with Hadley, Mila thinks of camera shots that pull back from a little fishbowl to a pond, an ocean, and finally all of Planet Earth. Seeing people do normal, boring things reminds her that her problems are small compared to the whole world.
- First half
In what book does a girl's first dojo bow look as if she has a stomach cramp?
✓ Answer
Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee
When Samira tells Mila she needs to bow, Mila lowers her head and bends over awkwardly. Ms. Platt bows back the proper way, heels together, arms at the side, eyes straight ahead, bending at the waist.
- Second half
In what book does a mom toss an old head of romaine lettuce and announce "I quit my job!"?
✓ Answer
Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee
Mom bursts home from her Sunday meeting with an armful of groceries and starts literally throwing things in and out of the fridge. She insists she is absolutely fine and that the whole family deserves better.
- Second half
In what book does a second-place junior basketball trophy stop a girl from telling the whole story?
✓ Answer
Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee
Sitting in Mr. McCabe's office after the kick, Mila almost tells him what the boys have been doing until she spots the JUNIOR BASKETBALL LEAGUE, SECOND PLACE trophy on his bookshelf. It reminds her that he coaches those same boys, so she only mutters that she and Callum don't get along.
- Near the end
In what book does a friend give a limpet shell, "Stronger than a spider's web," because it's so tough?
✓ Answer
Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee
One lunch period Omi gives Mila a flat, brown-speckled shell from her collection that her Tía Rosario brought back from Puerto Rico. Omi explains that scientists think it's the strongest biological material in the world, and that it should be Mila's because it's so tough.
