BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSLinus Baker is forty, lives alone with his cat in a gray, rainy city, and has spent seventeen years as a by-the-book caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He has never seen the ocean. Then Extremely Upper Management gives him a classified level four assignment. He must spend one month on remote Marsyas Island, sending weekly reports on an orphanage whose six children include a gnome, a wyvern, a forest sprite, a teenager who turns into a small dog when frightened, a green creature who dreams of being a bellhop, and a six-year-old whose file says he is the Antichrist. Their master, Arthur Parnassus, asks Linus to keep an open mind. His reports will help decide whether the orphanage stays open.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The House in the Cerulean Sea
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 House in the Cerulean Sea. 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 man faint dead away on a train platform after reading a boy's file?
✓ Answer
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
At the station, Linus finally opens his sealed files and starts with the one for six-year-old Lucy. What it says about the boy is such a shock that he faints on the spot and wakes up with sand on his backside and Ms. Chapelwhite peering down at him.
- First half
In what book does a shy teenager read aloud a piece beginning "I am but paper. Brittle and thin."?
✓ Answer
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
In the Expressing Yourself class, Sal is the last to perform, and he reads his own piece with the paper shaking in his hands. Everyone cheers, and Arthur says he particularly liked the idea of scratches as a history.
- First half
In what book does a guardian in black with a red sash and fake mustache carry a machete?
✓ Answer
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
For the second Saturday adventure, Arthur dresses differently from everyone else, in black with a red sash and a mustache like Lucy's, and he won't let Lucy use the machete. Following Lucy's brave order, he hops onto a boulder crying "For the expedition!" and disappears into a dark copse of trees.
- Second half
In what book has a tentacled boy read The History of Bellhops Through the Ages four and a half times?
✓ Answer
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Chauncey pulls the thick book out from under his bed, wrapped in plastic to keep it dry, and proudly tells Linus how many times he has read it. He wants to be a bellhop "Because they get to help people," and he promises that even though some people think he's scary, he really isn't.
- Second half
In what book does a man pay for a gnome's garden tools with a Diners Club Card saved for emergencies?
✓ Answer
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
At the hardware store, Talia's pile of new tools rings up to an astounding total, and she whispers that she doesn't have enough. When Lucy offers his record money, Linus tells them both to put their money away and hands over his Diners Club Card, leaving Talia smiling with wet eyes.
- Near the end
In what book does a man find an envelope marked DON'T FORGET in his suitcase, holding a photograph?
✓ Answer
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Unpacking at home, Linus finds a brown envelope he doesn't remember packing, with two words in black, blocky letters. Inside is a photo from the first adventure to Zoe's house, with Lucy and Talia laughing and Arthur watching Linus with a quiet smile, and Linus guesses Zoe must have taken it.
