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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Paloma Marquez is dragged along to Mexico City for the summer when her mom receives a four-week academic fellowship in the Coyoacán neighborhood, the same historic district where the artist Frida Kahlo once lived. Paloma speaks almost no Spanish, knows nothing about Mexican art, and would rather be back in Kansas with her friends. But on her very first night in Coyoacán, at a reception held inside Frida Kahlo's famous home, Casa Azul, she meets two Mexican twins her age, Gael and Lizzie Castillo, who slip her a cryptic note warning of a "great injustice" and asking for help with a life-or-death mystery. Paloma has always wanted to be a detective like her favorite fictional sleuth Lulu Pennywhistle, and with her father, a Mexican-born man who died when she was three, connected to this very city and to Frida Kahlo's art, Mexico turns out to hold more for her than she expected.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring
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 Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring. 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 do two trumpet players echo a slow, sad melody across a courtyard as if seeking each other?
✓ Answer
Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring by Angela Cervantes
At the reception, two mariachi girls play El nino perdido, the Lost Boy, trading verses across the patio. The lonely song captures exactly how Paloma feels in this strange place.
- First half
In what book does a fortune-teller nearly drop her box of jewelry when a girl asks for an unusual piece?
✓ Answer
Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring by Angela Cervantes
When Paloma blurts out the kind of jewelry she wants, the fortune-teller fumbles her box and stammers that it is an unusual request. The reaction convinces Paloma the woman is hiding something.
- First half
In what book do hiding kids get caught when a spider crawling on a girl's neck makes her partner yelp?
✓ Answer
Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring by Angela Cervantes
Hiding under a desk in the storage room, Paloma flicks a spider off her neck and it lands on Gael, who yelps. The noise gives them away to the menacing man in the trench coat.
- Second half
In what book does a girl tell a class that hairy eyebrows look like a bird taking flight?
✓ Answer
Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring by Angela Cervantes
When a classmate jokes about the artist's unibrow, Paloma shares a deeper view. She says she now sees a perfect bird taking flight, leaving the whole class silent and impressed.
- Second half
In what book does a man teach a girl that the clue to a painting is its year?
✓ Answer
Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring by Angela Cervantes
Mr. Farill teaches Paloma that the clue to one painting is the year it was made. This idea of timing later helps Paloma see that several events all happened two weeks ago.
- Near the end
In what book does a mother give her daughter her wedding opal on a chain before a masquerade?
✓ Answer
Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring by Angela Cervantes
Before the party, Paloma's mom gives her the red opal from her wedding jewelry on a gold chain. She says something her father touched will always be with Paloma as her own memory.
