BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSSet in Seoul, Korea, in 1473, The Kite Fighters follows eleven-year-old Young-sup, who has a rare gift for flying kites. He can feel the wind through the line as if the kite itself is speaking to him. His older brother Kee-sup has the opposite talent: he builds kites with extraordinary skill and care but can never quite get them off the ground. When the boy-King of Korea spots the brothers flying their matching tiger kites on a hillside and commands Kee-sup to make a royal kite fit for a king, both brothers are pulled into an adventure that leads straight to the New Year kite-fighting competition.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Kite Fighters
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 Kite Fighters. 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 two brothers receive a yut set and a wind toy as New Year gifts?
✓ Answer
The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park
Young-sup is jealous when his older brother Kee-sup unwraps a beautiful gift from Kite Seller Chung while he himself gets the popular board game with little carved men. In Korea, everyone added a year to their age on the New Year, so the holiday was everyone's birthday.
- First half
In what book does a runaway reel skip across the ground with four guards in pursuit?
✓ Answer
The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park
When Kee-sup drops his reel to bow to the King, the wind drags it down the hill. The four royal guards stoop and skip after it, looking as if they are dancing. The boy-King laughs in delight at the strange chase.
- First half
In what book does a boy spatter gold over dragon scales with the blunt edge of a knife?
✓ Answer
The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park
Kee-sup's daring use of the gold paint produces a fine sheen of minuscule dots across the red and black dragon scales. The technique makes the surface glitter like real scales when the sun catches it, and the King is delighted.
- Second half
In what book do children collect lucky nines on the first day of the New Year?
✓ Answer
The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park
Kee-sup explains that the Chinese character for long life contains two nines, making nine a lucky number for the New Year. The cousins collect groups of nine all day, with even an aunt joking about diaper changes.
- Second half
In what book does a boy run to a market merchant to ask if an invention is allowed?
✓ Answer
The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park
Worried that their pottery-coated line might be forbidden, Young-sup races to find old Kite Seller Chung at the closing market. The merchant assures him no rule forbids it but leaves the question of honor to the boys.
- Near the end
In what book does a flier use a sky-blue string and gold-spattered scales to dazzle a crowd?
✓ Answer
The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park
When Young-sup launches the dragon for his first match, the gold-spattered scales catch the sun while the blue line is nearly invisible against the sky. The crowd murmurs at what looks like a kite flying without a line.
