BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Sofiya Len lives in Sevastopol, on the Crimean Peninsula, and in February 2014 the place she loves most is the city dolphinarium, which her father runs. The dolphins there, especially Colin, the oldest, are her family, along with a beluga whale named Fizz, two sea lions, her father, her veterinarian grandmother, and an old gray cat named Neptune. Her mother left for Moscow three years ago, and Sofiya is secretly saving for a bus ticket to find her, partly with money she earns doing biology homework for Ilya Chaban, a bully from a rival class. When a schoolyard fight gets them both in trouble, their punishment is to work together at the dolphinarium, planning a kids' camp and a big show for Colin's thirtieth birthday. Then Sofiya learns from her father that Colin, Fizz, and the sea lions were once trained by the military, and Ilya's father announces that he wants the navy to take over the dolphinarium. As soldiers with no badges on their uniforms appear in the streets and Crimea is pulled toward Russia, Sofiya, her friends Cedric, Anna, and Petro, and the boy she least expected to trust have to decide what they are willing to risk for the animals they love.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Swimming with Spies
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 Swimming with Spies. 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 three pit bulls keep guard all night on plaid sofa cushions beneath a food truck?
✓ Answer
Swimming with Spies by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger
On her icy ride along the waterfront, Sofiya passes Ivan Markovych's locked-up food truck, where his pit bulls Musty, Monk and Marble curl up on old cushions and dirty blankets. Marble, her favorite, lifts his head and thumps his tail as she pedals by.
- First half
In what book does a girl shake a jar of her grandmother's pickles like a snow globe?
✓ Answer
Swimming with Spies by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger
Babushka arrives with extra pickles from her cellar, and Sofiya shakes a jar so the dill, garlic and mustard seed swirl in the vinegar. To Sofiya, Babushka makes the best pickles in the whole world, so she takes two, one to devour and one to savor.
- First half
In what book does a girl discover that the boy who paid her to draw his homework can draw?
✓ Answer
Swimming with Spies by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger
Ilya hands Sofiya printed designs for the camp, with balloons, fish and dolphins in a sea spray, and she tells him they are really good. He admits he just wasn't interested in biology and likes cartoons, but what he really likes doing is editing videos, like one for his soccer club.
- Second half
In what book does a dolphin nose a sunken, deflated hoop upward until it can pass through?
✓ Answer
Swimming with Spies by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger
Sofiya asks Petro to sign for Colin to go through a deflated hoop lying at the bottom of the pool, a command that seems impossible. On the underwater monitor, everyone watches Colin nudge the hoop higher and higher until he can pass through it, proving he can solve problems.
- Second half
In what book does a half-half girl turn to a billboard and declare she is Ukrainian?
✓ Answer
Swimming with Spies by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger
When Denys asks whether she is Ukrainian or Russian, Sofiya first says she's half-half, with a Russian mother and a Ukrainian father. After thinking it over, she faces the billboard and announces that she is Ukrainian and will be a Ukrainian marine biologist.
- Near the end
In what book does a woman in hot pink lipstick and an argyle vest speak Russian to students?
✓ Answer
Swimming with Spies by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger
Sofiya and her friends hurry to English class and find a large woman with a mane of dark blond hair, hot pink lipstick and a gray Argyle-pattern vest. She speaks to them in Russian and introduces herself as Mrs. Vitalia Gonorova.
