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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Benji Broderick knows a ton of trivia, loves puzzles, and has a real talent for embarrassing his cool eighteen-year-old brother, Ethan. When Benji's graduation gift backfires in front of a girl Ethan has been talking to, Ethan says something so hurtful that their parents step in. Ethan can have Dad's black pickup truck for college, but only if he earns it by driving Benji from their home near Chicago all the way to the Grand Canyon. Ethan is not thrilled. Then a prize Benji won on an old arcade game gets the brothers a free breakfast at the Pancake Palace, and solving a place-mat maze there earns Benji a mysterious card with a QR code. It invites them to a race across America along old Route 66, run by the eccentric puzzle maker Ms. Pennypickle, with one million dollars for the winners. Six other teams want that money too, and every stop, from the World's Largest Catsup Bottle to a soda ranch with over seven hundred flavors, brings a different puzzle. Benji has the puzzle brain and Ethan has the speed, but winning will take both of them working as a team.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Ms. Pennypickle's Puzzle Quest
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 Ms. Pennypickle's Puzzle Quest. 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 must a graduate earn a bow-topped pickup by road-tripping with his little brother?
✓ Answer
Ms. Pennypickle's Puzzle Quest by Chris Grabenstein
Mom and Dad park Dad's F-150 in the driveway with a big orange-and-blue bow on the roof, but Ethan has to earn it. The job is an all-expenses-paid road trip to the Grand Canyon, just like Dad took at Ethan's age, and he has to take Benji along.
- First half
In what book does a hotel worker flip a tray of tiny pastries upside down to show envelopes taped underneath?
✓ Answer
Ms. Pennypickle's Puzzle Quest by Chris Grabenstein
At the Best Western breakfast, a lady in a hairnet says "Alley-oop!" and flips her tray of miniature Danishes, which stay locked in place under snug plastic wrap. Six sealed envelopes, one for each team, are taped to the bottom.
- First half
In what book does a drink called Freaky Dog turn out to be a clear birch beer?
✓ Answer
Ms. Pennypickle's Puzzle Quest by Chris Grabenstein
When Ethan picked it, the brothers assumed Freaky Dog was some kind of wacky hot dog. At Pops it is a "barkin' birch beer" that smells like wintergreen, the last of six sodas Ethan gulps down.
- Second half
In what book does "album-curse-key" turn out to be the name of a city in New Mexico?
✓ Answer
Ms. Pennypickle's Puzzle Quest by Chris Grabenstein
On the Blue Hole clue card, Benji reads "Head west to" followed by an album, a doll that stands for a curse, and a key. His first guess sounds ridiculous, but album-curse-key becomes Albuquerque.
- Second half
In what book does a big brother insist, "You don't go hide under the bleachers when you lose"?
✓ Answer
Ms. Pennypickle's Puzzle Quest by Chris Grabenstein
When the Brodericks arrive last at the musical highway, Benji suggests they skip facing the other teams and just keep driving. Ethan says you shake the other teams' hands and tell them "Good game," and once they hear they are last, he says "Good game, everybody."
- Near the end
In what book does a 196-piece picture from a blank white box turn out to show a giant sloth?
✓ Answer
Ms. Pennypickle's Puzzle Quest by Chris Grabenstein
On a DVD in the Cavern Suite, Ms. Pennypickle explains that each blank white box holds 196 pieces with no picture to follow. When the finished picture stumps everyone, Benji spots the number fifteen and recognizes Gertie, the fifteen-foot stuffed prehistoric sloth the hoodie-wearing guide mentioned.
