BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSEleven-year-old Marty Preston lives in the hills of West Virginia near a tiny town called Friendly, and one Sunday afternoon a stray beagle follows him home along the river road. The dog is timid and flinching, and Marty quickly learns it belongs to Judd Travers, a neighbor known for mistreating his animals. When his dad drives the dog back to Judd's trailer, Marty watches the man kick the dog and promise to whup it worse if it wanders off again. Marty names the dog Shiloh and is determined to find a way to make the dog his own, but he has no money, no plan, and a family that can barely afford to feed itself.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Shiloh
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 Shiloh. 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 boy check each piece of fried rabbit for buckshot?
✓ Answer
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
During a Sunday dinner, Marty carefully picks through his fried rabbit to make sure there's no buckshot in it. His dad tells him he shot the rabbit in the neck, which only makes Marty feel worse about eating it. This scene shows early on how sensitive Marty is about animals being hurt.
- First half
In what book does a friend show off his first pet, a hermit crab that changes shells at night?
✓ Answer
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
David Howard tells Marty to close his eyes and hold out his hands, and instead of something warm and furry, Marty gets a cold fishbowl with a hermit crab inside. David says the crab changes shells at night, like changing clothes. Marty thinks it's a funny kind of pet compared to a dog, but he plays along.
- First half
In what book does a dog throw up the first time he eats frankfurters mixed with sour cream?
✓ Answer
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Marty's homemade dog food of chopped frankfurters and sour cream is too rich for a dog who's been half starved. The dog throws it all up the first time. After that, though, his stomach adjusts and he keeps the food down, slowly fattening up until his ribs aren't so visible.
- Second half
In what book does a boy race uphill with his shoelaces flying to reach a wounded animal?
✓ Answer
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
When Marty hears the terrible sounds from the pen, he leaps off the couch, jams his feet into sneakers without tying them, and sprints up the hill. His dad is right behind him with a flashlight. They find the German shepherd standing over the badly injured beagle.
- Second half
In what book does a father secretly let a dog lick his dinner plate clean?
✓ Answer
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Even though Dad keeps his distance from Shiloh at first, Marty peeks through the bathroom doorway and catches Dad letting the dog lick his plate and scratching him all down his back. It shows that Dad is softening toward Shiloh even though he won't admit it.
- Near the end
In what book does a man in a camouflage shirt yell "Whooeee!" after shooting a deer out of season?
✓ Answer
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Judd Travers emerges from the woods wearing an army camouflage shirt and a brown cap, holding his rifle and grinning. He whoops with excitement at getting the doe, not realizing Marty has been watching the whole thing from the other tree line.
