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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSAlex Robinson is an eleven-year-old hockey player from Norway House Cree Nation, and when his dad takes a new job in Winnipeg, Alex has to leave behind his best friend George, his old team, and the only home he has ever known. Before he goes, George hands over his own stick, a Warrior with WARRIOR printed down the blue-and-black handle, and tells Alex he is going to need it. At tryouts for a new team, the Kodiaks, a big defenceman named Terrence knocks Alex flat and skates off calling him Chief, and that turns out to be just the first time Alex has to figure out what it means to be Cree in a city where people think they already know him before they have even met him. Over the course of the season, Alex has to win over new teammates, stand up for who he is, and help a team that everyone expects to finish in the middle of the pack chase something bigger.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage
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 Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage. 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 boy give away his prized stick, which has WARRIOR printed in orange?
✓ Answer
The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage by David A. Robertson
George Captain hands Alex his Warrior QRE 50 on the morning Alex leaves Norway House. It has a blue blade and a blue and black handle, and George babies it so much that he refuses to take slapshots with it in case it breaks.
- First half
In what book does a boy vote his linemate for captain and watch the coach's son win instead?
✓ Answer
The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage by David A. Robertson
Coach Kip hands out pens and three slips of paper and warns the players that who they vote for sets the tone for the whole season. Alex picks Aidan for captain and Huddy and TJ as alternates, and when the votes are counted Johnny gets the C while Aidan and Huddy are named the alternates.
- First half
In what book does a boy guess the shots on goal are about 1600 to 2?
✓ Answer
The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage by David A. Robertson
In the season opener against the Railcats, Braxton faces shot after shot while his team barely touches the puck. Alex's wildly exaggerated count is his way of saying the period was a disaster, and it ends 3 to 0 for the other team.
- Second half
In what book does a defenceman promise, "I'll take a slapshot right at your stupid head"?
✓ Answer
The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage by David A. Robertson
Terrence says it to Jackson at the all star weekend after Jackson mocks Alex from the bench. Jackson believes him and stays quiet the rest of the weekend, and it is the first time Terrence sticks up for Alex in front of a packed rink.
- Second half
In what book does a mom say, "When you drop something and it breaks, you meant to break it"?
✓ Answer
The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage by David A. Robertson
Alex tells his parents in the car that he did not mean to push the other player, and his mom does not let him off the hook. She agrees the boy deserved it but says punishing him was not Alex's job.
- Near the end
In what book does a boy step onto the rink and announce that he wants to win right now?
✓ Answer
The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage by David A. Robertson
Coach Kip explains that if nobody scores in the fifteen minute overtime, both teams have to replay the entire game the next night. Alex answers by opening the gate and skating out, and his whole team follows him into a huddle.
