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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Dashiell Gibson lives on Moon Base Alpha with his parents and little sister, and after six months up there he can tell you the truth behind all the glossy NASA brochures. The food is awful, the toilets are a nightmare, and life in a tin can on the lunar surface is nothing like the movies promised. Then, on a middle of the night trip to the bathroom, Dash overhears the base doctor, Ronald Holtz, on a call so excited it borders on delirious, promising to reveal an amazing discovery to the whole base at breakfast. A few hours later, Dr. Holtz is dead, killed during an unauthorized solo moonwalk that everyone insists was a tragic accident. Dash does not buy it. Holtz was too careful, too happy, and too close to sharing whatever he had found to have gone outside alone and made a fatal mistake. With a new girl his age just arrived on base and a base commander determined to shut down any talk of foul play, Dash starts digging into what really happened to Dr. Holtz, and quickly learns that a moon base is a very small place to hide a killer.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Space Case
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 Space Case. 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 do the toilets look like a vacuum cleaner mated with an octopus?
✓ Answer
Space Case by Stuart Gibbs
Dash Gibson describes the men's bathroom at Moon Base Alpha, where water is so scarce that nothing ever gets flushed. His hatred of the lunar toilets is a running joke, and one of them jamming at two fifteen in the morning is what puts him in the room to overhear Dr. Holtz.
- First half
In what book does the missing delay in a phone call turn into a major clue?
✓ Answer
Space Case by Stuart Gibbs
Talking with Riley back in Hawaii reminds Dash that every word takes a couple of seconds to cross the distance. Since the conversation he overheard had no gaps at all, whoever Dr. Holtz was talking to had to be nearby.
- First half
In what book does a chunk of chewed burger fly across a room into a man's face?
✓ Answer
Space Case by Stuart Gibbs
Roddy nearly chokes to death after swallowing without chewing, and Chang's rescue launches the meat straight at Lars Sjoberg. Lars topples over backward and lands under his family's entire dinner, and everyone laughs instead of helping.
- Second half
In what book does a boy get a threatening text sent from his friend's hacked account?
✓ Answer
Space Case by Stuart Gibbs
The message warns Dash to be careful or he will end up like Dr. Holtz, and it arrives while Kira is standing right in front of him, so it clearly is not from her. His parents blame the Sjoberg kids, but Dash suspects the killer is telling him to back off.
- Second half
In what book is a eulogy so dull that mourners fall asleep during the memorial?
✓ Answer
Space Case by Stuart Gibbs
Nina reads a flat list of Dr. Holtz's research papers, including his studies of the spleen and the digestive tract, until even burly Chang topples over unconscious. The boredom is what lets Dash and Kira whisper about the case in the back of the room.
- Near the end
In what book does a helmet shatter a moment after an outer door slides shut?
✓ Answer
Space Case by Stuart Gibbs
Dash punches the alarm, dives into the air lock, and the cracked glass gives way the moment the outer door seals behind him. He holds his breath until cool air rushes in, and calls that first breath the greatest feeling of his life.
