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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSArnold Spirit Jr., who goes by Junior on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State, is a fourteen-year-old cartoonist who was born with too much fluid on his brain, leaving him with a stutter, a lisp, poor eyesight, and a skull large enough to earn him the nickname "Globe" from bullies. His only real friend is Rowdy, a fierce kid who has protected him since they were born on the same day. When Junior opens his first high school geometry textbook and finds his mother's name written inside, the evidence that his school is recycling thirty-year-old books hits him hard enough to make him throw the book across the room, accidentally breaking his teacher Mr. P's nose. The suspension leads to an unexpected conversation with Mr. P, who tells Junior that staying on the reservation will slowly kill him and that he needs to go somewhere people still have hope. That conversation plants an idea Junior can't shake loose: transferring to Reardan, the all-white farm town twenty-two miles away and the polar opposite of everything he has ever known.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. 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 grow ten extra teeth and have all of them pulled in one day?
✓ Answer
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Arnold has forty-two teeth instead of the usual thirty-two. Because the health service only funded major dental work once a year, all ten extras were yanked the same day, and the dentist gave him only half the painkiller because he believed Native people feel half as much pain.
- First half
In what book does a boy learn his sister suddenly married a poker player she met at a casino?
✓ Answer
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Arnold comes home to find his mother crying because his sister Mary married a traveling poker player she met at the casino and moved to Montana. Mary said she wanted a man who was not afraid to gamble everything, and Arnold decides she is bravely trying to live out a romance novel.
- First half
In what book does a girl call a boy's old suit so retroactive that it's radioactive?
✓ Answer
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
When Arnold arrives at the Winter Formal in his dad's dated suit, Penelope squeals that it is so retroactive that it is radioactive. Her loud delight turns his embarrassment into a triumph and makes every boy wish he had worn his father's suit.
- Second half
In what book is a coffin carried to the fifty-yard line of a football field for a wake?
✓ Answer
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Roughly two thousand mourners come to honor Junior's grandmother, so they set her coffin on the fifty-yard line of the football field. On that day the tribe stops hassling Junior and lets him grieve in peace.
- Second half
In what book does a whole class drop their textbooks to defend a grieving classmate?
✓ Answer
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
When Mrs. Jeremy mocks Junior for missing school during all his grief, Gordy drops his textbook with a whomp, and Penelope, Roger, and the other players follow before walking out. The spontaneous protest gives Junior a little spark of joy.
- Near the end
In what book is a winning season ended by an opponent's half-court shot at the buzzer?
✓ Answer
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
In the playoffs, a tiny farm-town team beats Junior's squad when a kid named Keith sinks a half-court shot at the buzzer. The whole locker room, including Coach, cries for hours over the upset.
