BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Charlie Bobo lives with his parents on a sharecropper's farm just outside Possum Moan, South Carolina, in 1858. Charlie is unusually large for his age, deeply fond of his hunting dog Stanky, and given to more pondering than most people he knows. When his father is killed in a freak accident while cutting down a tree, Charlie and his mother are left with no money, a debt they can't pay, and the threat of eviction hanging over them. Before they can figure out their next move, the most feared man in Richland District shows up at their door: Cap'n Buck, the Tanner plantation's overseer. He claims Charlie's father owed him fifty dollars and, after a frightening standoff, forces Charlie to ride north with him to help track down and capture people the Tanners say are thieves. What Cap'n Buck actually wants, and what Charlie is slowly forced to understand, will put his conscience to the test in ways he never expected.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Journey of Little Charlie
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 Journey of Little Charlie. 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 cruel overseer demand fifty dollars from a poor widow because her dead husband owed it?
✓ Answer
The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
Cap'n Buck shows up at the Bobo cabin claiming Pap had taken an advance to travel north with him. He gives Ma and her boy one day to come up with the money, kicking off the whole journey.
- First half
In what book does a former sailor quit because captains going down last sounded like suicide to him?
✓ Answer
The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
Ol' Jerry tells this around the campfire to explain why he switched to working the rails. He argues the Bible forbids suicide, so he refused to be the last person off a sinking ship.
- First half
In what book does a captured woman drop a sidewalk bag full of apples, collard greens, and tin cans?
✓ Answer
The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
Eloise was running everyday errands when the slave catcher attacked. The cornmeal and groceries scattered on the sidewalk make the violence feel even more shocking and out of place in the busy Northern city.
- Second half
In what book does a boy hear a steam train chugging his own name over and over?
✓ Answer
The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
On his first train ride, the narrator imagines the locomotive saying "Charl. E. Bo. Bo." over and over, faster and faster until the syllables blur together. It becomes a recurring motif.
- Second half
In what book does a target stand a whole head taller than every other student in his school uniform?
✓ Answer
The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
Watching the group of students at the pond, the narrator immediately spots Sylvanus, the gigantic boy who favors his mother. Cap'n Buck disagrees and chooses the wrong target at first.
- Near the end
In what book does a slave catcher pretend his young partner is a deadly killer called "Baby Face"?
✓ Answer
The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
Cornered on the platform, Cap'n Buck shouts to the crowd that his son has already tracked and killed runaways. The narrator realizes the bluff has tied their fates together.
