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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSThe summer after he graduates from high school, Stuyvesant Grey, a Brooklyn drummer everyone calls Stuy, comes home to find that his mother's boyfriend, Dom, has taken apart his drum set and put a new TV where it stood. Stuy moves in with his Uncle Lucky on the Lower East Side, where the strange, generous guitarist across the hall, Dunks, plays a pink five-string guitar and insists he is an alien. Before long the two of them win over a pair of Union Square street performers, Alexis, a giant bass player, and Keith, a freckled girl trumpet player with a shaved head, along with Keith's thirteen-year-old friend Frankie, who has been sick and becomes the band's announcer. With Stuy drumming on buckets and a baking pan, the five start playing in subway stations under the name Soundtrack. But trouble with Dom follows Stuy underground, and soon the band has to keep moving from station to station to stay a step ahead of it, while word of mouth turns them into a secret sensation that fans follow all over the city.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Soundtrack
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 Soundtrack. 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 mother teach drumming by holding up a quarter and a penny?
✓ Answer
Soundtrack by Jason Reynolds
Before Stuy ever sat at a real drum set, his mom trained him in the kitchen with red and blue tape X's on the floor, calling out "Red, red, red" and "Blue, blue, blue" for his feet and "Quarter, quarter, quarter, penny" for his hands to slap hers. Stuy compares it to a weird kind of Dance Dance Revolution that taught him to use all his limbs at once.
- First half
In what book does a thirteen-year-old first shout "Everybody gather round!" through a guitarist's megaphone?
✓ Answer
Soundtrack by Jason Reynolds
Keith has been secretly practicing the announcement with Frankie on the train home, and the night the band finds its name, Frankie grabs Dunks's megaphone and introduces them to the crowd. From then on the megaphone becomes Frankie's best friend and he is the band's announcer.
- First half
In what book does a writer tenant flush his crumpled-up pages down the toilet?
✓ Answer
Soundtrack by Jason Reynolds
Mr. Garcia in 4A is afraid someone will discover his bad writing or steal his ideas, so he flushes the paper balls instead of throwing them away. He used to burn them until he nearly set the building on fire, and now his apartment floods at least once a week.
- Second half
In what book does a bassist call his home phone to show friends the lights flashing?
✓ Answer
Soundtrack by Jason Reynolds
Stuy and Dunks ask Alexis how his deaf parents know when the phone is ringing. He dials his house from his cell, and the lights start flashing, the same way they do when his parents' alarm goes off in the morning.
- Second half
In what book does a drummer love a Savion Glover clip that shows Savion not dancing at all?
✓ Answer
Soundtrack by Jason Reynolds
The Savion clip Stuy loves to watch comes from the eighties movie Tap, where old tap dancers show off their moves around Gregory Hines while a young Savion just watches. Stuy listens to the rhythms of their feet with his eyes closed before watching how cool they look.
- Near the end
In what book does a guitarist's mother watch practice in flannel pajamas and a MISFITS cap?
✓ Answer
Soundtrack by Jason Reynolds
Every morning Dunks's mother has answered his invitation with the same word, soon. On the Thursday before the Times Square show she finally knocks on his door, sits in the corner in her pajamas and a black cap that is clearly his, and that night Dunks plays like an alien.
