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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSPacy Mercado starts freshman year at Wakeville High, outside Raleigh, North Carolina, planning to face it like Captain Picard from Star Trek's The Next Generation. She calls her conformist classmates the Borg and insists that crushes are just "romantic propaganda." Then, while she sits in the nurse's office with a lip she split on a water fountain, a boy in clip-on sunglasses and a homemade cardigan-blazer walks in. He is Cecil Holloway, a djembe player who sews his own wild outfits and needs the nurse's bathroom because of his IBS. Told in alternating chapters by Pacy and Cecil, the story follows the two as they land on the same freshman formal decorating committee, which Pacy names WADS and runs as president. Cecil's family is struggling. His dad sank their savings into a hip-hop-themed bed-and-breakfast, his granddad needs dialysis, and his parents are separated. Pacy shares a small apartment with her mom, her four-times-divorced aunt, Tita Va-Va, and a younger sister, Gigi, who is good at everything. When Pacy pulls a school fire alarm to break up a conversation between Cecil and Gigi, the alarm turns out to be broken, the gym may be off limits for the dance, and the two freshmen head out by city bus to find a new venue.
Free Battle of the Books questions for On Again, Awkward Again
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 On Again, Awkward Again. 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 is stomach trouble ranked on a personal scale from DEFCON 1 to DEFCON 5?
✓ Answer
On Again, Awkward Again by Erin Entrada Kelly and Kwame Mbalia
Cecil has IBS and invented the Cecil Holloway Stomach Rating System, where DEFCON 1 means twinges and DEFCON 5 means full bubbleguts, so 5 is the worst. His doctor says stress can set his stomach off, and starting high school is plenty stressful.
- First half
In what book does a student waiting for the principal dread choosing which separated parent's number to give?
✓ Answer
On Again, Awkward Again by Erin Entrada Kelly and Kwame Mbalia
Cecil isn't as worried about getting in trouble as he is about which parent the office will call, since his parents live at the same address but in different rooms with different phone numbers. No one outside the family knows, and he wonders if giving one number means choosing a side.
- First half
In what book does a teen seeking help tell a boy's dad, "I have your son"?
✓ Answer
On Again, Awkward Again by Erin Entrada Kelly and Kwame Mbalia
With Cecil sneezing and struggling to talk, he dials his dad and hands Pacy the phone. She introduces herself to Mr. Holloway, then realizes she sounds like a kidnapper. She explains that Cecil seems to be allergic to the flowers and signs off with "Mercado, out."
- Second half
In what book does an aunt advise being yourself, just "an improved version"?
✓ Answer
On Again, Awkward Again by Erin Entrada Kelly and Kwame Mbalia
When Pacy tells Tita Va-Va that her plan is simply to be herself, Tita gives her a puzzled look and says she can be herself, just an improved version, starting with makeup. Pacy wonders if Tita is right, then reminds herself that her aunt has had four divorces.
- Second half
In what book does a committee leader bang an invisible gavel and declare a democracy?
✓ Answer
On Again, Awkward Again by Erin Entrada Kelly and Kwame Mbalia
At a WADS meeting in the library, Marcella says she doesn't feel heard and doesn't appreciate being called a "Borg-bot." Pacy admits she has been all over the place, announces that WADS will now be a democracy, and bangs an invisible gavel on the table, and Marcella suggests splitting into teams.
- Near the end
In what book does a boy drumming on a starlight bridge realize the rhythm is his crush's name?
✓ Answer
On Again, Awkward Again by Erin Entrada Kelly and Kwame Mbalia
The day before the dance, Granddad takes Cecil up to the B&B-Boy's glass starlight bridge and hands him his djembe. The rhythm Cecil plays is one he can't get out of his head, the rhythm of "Pa-ci-ta," and it is just what he needs to finish his music composition.
