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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSRyanna Stuart is eleven years old and doesn't remember ever meeting her mother's side of the family. Her mother, Casey, was hit by a taxi in New York City when Ryanna was three, and ever since it has just been Ryanna and her screenwriter dad, who recently remarried. So when a letter arrives out of nowhere from grandparents she has never heard from, asking her to come stay at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains while she still can, Ryanna decides to go, hoping to finally learn something real about the mother she can't remember. At Camp Van Camp she discovers that her mother's family is far bigger than she knew, with a crowd of cousins she never knew she had who put her through a chaotic first day and a lake initiation she can't talk her way out of. Then her grandmother hands her one of her mother's old mystery novels, and a note her mother wrote in its margin leads Ryanna to a treasure map her mother hid years earlier, sending her and her cousins on a treasure hunt. Across the lake, a neighbor who took her grandfather to court over the land wants to build condos, and his son, Holden, the cousins' old friend, has stopped speaking to them.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Firefly Summer
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 Firefly Summer. 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 chameleon's Viking funeral stall until a woman produces matches left over from s'mores?
✓ Answer
The Firefly Summer by Morgan Matson
The little boat carrying Karma is already drifting out when the grown-ups pat their pockets and find no matches, until a woman says she has some left over from s'mores. Pete decides the boat is now too far to hit, so no arrow is ever fired, and Gramps swims out holding the matches above the water to light it himself.
- First half
In what book does someone mutter a country's name when a newcomer asks about an uncle's job?
✓ Answer
The Firefly Summer by Morgan Matson
When Ryanna asks Uncle Benji what he does, everyone looks away or down at their plates, and someone mutters "Sweden." Ryanna guesses he must be out of work and regrets asking, but the awkward silence is hiding something much more interesting.
- First half
In what book does a girl who couldn't climb ropes in gym climb one to a purple bandanna?
✓ Answer
The Firefly Summer by Morgan Matson
Once Ryanna works out that the quote means to look up, the cousins spot something purple dangling high in the clearing's tree, and Diya finds a rope coiled around a nail in the trunk. With Diya shouting that she can do it, Ryanna, who barely passed PE, pulls herself all the way up.
- Second half
In what book does a girl pull on an old sweatshirt reading BENNETON and find it fits perfectly?
✓ Answer
The Firefly Summer by Morgan Matson
Grams takes Ryanna up to the dusty garage attic and gives her a box marked CASEY'S STUFF, packed with beaded jeans, a Tamagotchi and neon scrunchies. On top is her mother's old sweatshirt, and when Ryanna puts it on, it fits her perfectly.
- Second half
In what book does a family build a perfect scale model of their old camp out of sand?
✓ Answer
The Firefly Summer by Morgan Matson
On the first perfect sand day after the rain, Max and Uncle Dennis put the whole family to work building Camp Van Camp in sand, with the lodge, cabins, dock and S'mores Hill. Uncle Dennis says it seemed like a nice gesture to do it while they still can.
- Near the end
In what book does an intern bring donuts in a green bakery box and say "I'm just in love"?
✓ Answer
The Firefly Summer by Morgan Matson
Archie, who used to sigh that there was no point to anything, strides into the lodge with donuts from Borrowed Thyme as thanks for eating everyone's food. He has been a different person ever since meeting Holden's au pair, Ella.
