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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSJake Semple has been kicked out of every school in Rhode Island, and after getting expelled from Traybridge Middle School in just three weeks, he has run out of options. His only alternative to Juvenile Hall is enrolling in the Creative Academy, the eccentric home school run by the wildly artistic Applewhite family on their sixteen-acre North Carolina property called Wit's End. The Applewhites are a cheerfully chaotic clan, all of them working on some creative project at all times, and Jake, dressed in all black with scarlet spiked hair and an eyebrow ring, has every intention of making their lives miserable until they kick him out, too. Then he meets E.D., the one Applewhite who is organized, ambitious, and deeply skeptical of Jake, and he gets his first hint that surviving Wit's End might be harder, and stranger, than anything he has faced before.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Surviving the Applewhites
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 Surviving the Applewhites. 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 has a boy been kicked out of every public school in an entire state?
✓ Answer
Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan
Jake Semple was expelled from all the public schools in Rhode Island and then managed to get thrown out of Traybridge Middle School in just three weeks. His reputation as a troublemaker is what leads his social worker and the Applewhites to arrange for him to join their home school.
- First half
In what book does a teenage sculptor change the sign on his bedroom door from "Painter" to "Sculptor"?
✓ Answer
Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan
Hal Applewhite is such a recluse that the family only knows about his artistic shifts through the sign on his door and his UPS deliveries. After ordering chicken wire and plaster, the sign changes to announce he is now a sculptor, though nobody has seen him or his work.
- First half
In what book does a grandfather say that a tornado looked less threatening than the expression on a girl's face?
✓ Answer
Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan
When E.D. storms into the wood shop looking furious about Jake finding her fritillary and getting a part in the musical, Zedediah tells her that the expression on her face is worse than a tornado he once saw heading toward him in a hurricane. It's his gentle way of getting her to open up.
- Second half
In what book does an entire technical staff walk out on a director during a meeting?
✓ Answer
Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan
The designer, costumer, choreographer, lighting person, prop master, and stage manager all quit Randolph's production at once. He blames Mrs. Montrose for putting them up to it, but his family thinks he bullied and belittled them until they couldn't take it anymore.
- Second half
In what book does a child unscrew seat bottoms in an auditorium, causing a woman to crash to the floor?
✓ Answer
Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan
While Jake is onstage rehearsing, Destiny finds a screwdriver and spends the whole time unscrewing auditorium seats. No one notices until Mrs. Montrose sits in one of the loosened seats and crashes to the floor. Randolph blames Jake for not watching Destiny.
- Near the end
In what book does a butterfly land on a woman's hand, causing her to fling her coffee toward the ceiling?
✓ Answer
Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan
Marcia Manning is relaxing on the couch with her coffee when a butterfly lands on her hand. She shrieks, launching the mug upward and sending coffee toward the ceiling and back down all over her. Winston jumps on her trying to chase the butterfly, making everything worse.
