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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSNuri Ibrahim was once a beekeeper in Aleppo, Syria, tending thousands of hives with his cousin Mustafa and living a full life with his wife Afra, a celebrated painter, and their young son Sami. The Syrian civil war destroys all of that. Now Nuri and Afra are refugees, stranded in a run-down bed and breakfast on the English coast while they wait for an asylum interview. Afra has gone blind and barely speaks; Nuri is plagued by nightmares and hallucinations he cannot explain. Mustafa made it to England before them and writes letters urging them forward, but Nuri finds himself unable to move, trapped between a grief he cannot face and a future he can barely imagine. The novel moves between their present limbo in England and the harrowing journey that brought them there, from the ruins of Aleppo to Istanbul, a rubber dinghy crossing the Aegean, refugee camps in Greece, and finally a smuggler's apartment in Athens.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Beekeeper of Aleppo: A Novel
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 Beekeeper of Aleppo: A Novel. 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 vandals burn the apiaries, leaving three generations of colonies numbered 12, 21, and 121 dead?
✓ Answer
The Beekeeper of Aleppo: A Novel by Christy Lefteri
When vandals set fire to Nuri and Mustafa's apiaries, they destroy grandmother, mother, and daughter colonies that Nuri had split himself. Mustafa sits down in the middle of the black field with his eyes closed, and Nuri never forgets the deep silence where the humming of the bees used to be.
- First half
In what book does a young boy fall from an overcrowded smuggler's dinghy into the Aegean Sea at night?
✓ Answer
The Beekeeper of Aleppo: A Novel by Christy Lefteri
When the boat starts to sink and men jump out to lighten the load, Mohammed disappears into the black waves. Nuri jumps in to search, plunging into silence underwater, but it is a stranger who finally pulls the spluttering boy back aboard.
- First half
In what book is a refugee couple given ferry papers printed with their dead son's name?
✓ Answer
The Beekeeper of Aleppo: A Novel by Christy Lefteri
At the registration tent on Leros, Nuri lies and says Mohammed is his son, using Sami's passport. The cards eventually printed list Nuri, Afra, and Sami Ibrahim, leaving Nuri stunned to see his dead son's name printed so clearly on the papers.
- Second half
In what book does a refugee read a cousin's emails about British black bees that work in cold rain?
✓ Answer
The Beekeeper of Aleppo: A Novel by Christy Lefteri
Mustafa's emails describe a thriving colony of rare native bees in Yorkshire that work below fifteen degrees Celsius and even in the rain. The promise of these hives pulls Nuri toward England.
- Second half
In what book does an immigration officer ask a refugee to sing his country's national anthem without the words?
✓ Answer
The Beekeeper of Aleppo: A Novel by Christy Lefteri
During the asylum interview in Croydon, the officer asks Nuri the name of his national anthem and then asks him to hum it. The strange request is part of the screening for genuine origin.
- Near the end
In what book do a husband and wife travel on forged passports as a couple named Gloria and Bruno Baresi?
✓ Answer
The Beekeeper of Aleppo: A Novel by Christy Lefteri
The smuggler delivers Italian passports with the names Gloria and Bruno Baresi. He warns them to keep silent because they speak no Italian, and routes them through Madrid to the UK.
