BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSSeventeen-year-old Estrella Villanueva, called Noche by almost everyone, lives in Duluth, Minnesota, above the shore of Lake Superior. Since she turned thirteen, she has shifted into a large black owl at night to carry the souls of the dead to the sky, and she calls herself a Lechuza. Only her parents and her girlfriend, Dante, have ever known. But Dante drowned in the lake in December, and instead of taking her soul to the sky, Noche has been secretly meeting Dante's ghost on the shore every night. Now Noche is back at school, where a new boy named Jax becomes her AP Bio lab partner, and her best friend next door, Julien, is grieving too. The ravens that call her to each death will not leave her alone, and Dante's ghost seems a little hazier each night.
Free Battle of the Books questions for On the Wings of la Noche
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 the Wings of la Noche. 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 a late girlfriend's final text a dad joke about cutting the sea in half?
✓ Answer
On the Wings of la Noche by Vanessa L. Torres
Noche rereads the three-way thread where Dante announced her "dad-joke of the week" and asked how you cut the sea in half. Dante never sent the punchline, and neither Noche nor Julien could figure it out.
- First half
In what book does a mural in the Graffiti Graveyard carry a tiny lady's slipper flower beside its signature?
✓ Answer
On the Wings of la Noche by Vanessa L. Torres
Julien's surprise for Noche is a huge painting of Dante on the wall of a graffiti-covered concrete channel near the Historic Union Depot. The tiny flower decorating his signature is Dante's favorite.
- First half
In what book does a boy say his mom moved them after a Saint Paul gang began recruiting him?
✓ Answer
On the Wings of la Noche by Vanessa L. Torres
During the AP Bio test, Jax tells Noche the gang had already cost them his older brother, which is why his mom decided to move. He says his brother Hli is not dead, just not the brother he once knew, and that the name Hli means moon in Hmong.
- Second half
In what book does a stranded girl phone her lab partner from about a hundred miles north of Duluth?
✓ Answer
On the Wings of la Noche by Vanessa L. Torres
The old family van blows a tire on the way to Grand Portage and there is no spare, so Noche scrolls past Julien and Papa and calls Jax. He jokes that it is a long way to go before third period, then walks out of Duluth High to come get her.
- Second half
In what book does a trading card list a young woman's largest prey as a Brahma chicken?
✓ Answer
On the Wings of la Noche by Vanessa L. Torres
In Emi's bedroom, Noche reads the back of a collectible card of Emi's big sister Paulina, which lists stats like top flight speed, beak strength, and a Brahma chicken as her largest prey. Evie says their aunt paints the family portraits and prints them into cards and posters that people actually collect.
- Near the end
In what book does a girl doing CPR on a clicking manikin joke that "you just click with some people"?
✓ Answer
On the Wings of la Noche by Vanessa L. Torres
Evie crashes Ma's CPR class and pumps the manikin's chest so well that a green light glows under its skin and the chest clicks with every correct push. She jokes about it, and later she admits the class made her think about becoming a paramedic.
