BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Ernest Brindle would rather spend lunch alone with the Oxford English Dictionary than talk to anyone, and lately he isn't even talking to his mother, Beatrice. Then one morning she leaves for work without saying goodbye and never comes home. Searching for answers, Ernest discovers she sold the family's old Olivetti typewriter, the one she used to fill with stories when he was small, to a pawn shop for exactly one hundred and twenty-six dollars. When he sneaks in to take it back, the typewriter does something no typewriter should do: it types back to him. With help from Quinn, a fast-talking girl who works at the shop and won't leave him alone, Ernest starts following the memories stored inside the typewriter, hoping they can lead him back to his mother.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Olivetti
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 Olivetti. 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 shiny new laptop take over a typewriter's spot on a writer's desk?
✓ Answer
Olivetti by Allie Millington
Felix buys Beatrice a laptop as a surprise gift and brags about all its storage. The typewriter is furious, since he holds unlimited memories and never needs charging, and getting pushed to the side of the desk is where his feeling of being replaced begins.
- First half
In what book does a girl reveal she left a shop unlocked and cut the security cameras herself?
✓ Answer
Olivetti by Allie Millington
Quinn felt awful for the Brindles and wanted them to be able to search for clues after hours, so she left the door open overnight and switched off the cameras to cover herself. What she did not expect was for Ernest to walk out with something under his arm, which leaves them both tangled in the same crime.
- First half
In what book does a boy sit fully dressed on a toilet with a typewriter on his lap?
✓ Answer
Olivetti by Allie Millington
Ernest fakes a bathroom trip so he can demand answers in private, stealing paper from the library printer on his way. The machine notes that inviting company into a restroom is not usual protocol, and then Quinn's head appears under the stall door.
- Second half
In what book does a mother tell her children, "Well, my lovelies. It seems I'm sick"?
✓ Answer
Olivetti by Allie Millington
The typewriter remembers the kitchen meeting where Beatrice first told her kids about her illness. He also notices that Felix's face only falls apart after the children run off, which is the first clue about how hard the parents work to shield them.
- Second half
In what book does a rusty typewriter suggest that a sick woman get coated in zinc?
✓ Answer
Olivetti by Allie Millington
Remi sits on the pawn shop shelf beside the narrator and tries to solve Beatrice's illness the way a machine would, with a rust proof coating. It is her way of caring, since typewriters do not really grasp how fragile human bodies are.
- Near the end
In what book does a just-repaired typewriter answer, "I am incapable of going anywhere"?
✓ Answer
Olivetti by Allie Millington
Ernest asks the rebuilt machine whether he is still there, and this is the answer that comes clacking out. It is a joke about being a twenty pound object that cannot move itself, and also a promise that he is not leaving.
