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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSSeventh grader Hercules Beal thinks his name is stupid. His parents died in an accident a year and a half ago, and now he lives with his older brother, Achilles, on the family's farm and nursery in Truro on Cape Cod. Every morning before sunrise, Hercules climbs the Dune near his house to watch the dawn and whisper good morning to his mom and dad. This fall he starts at the Cape Cod Academy for Environmental Sciences, where his homeroom teacher, Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer, is a tough retired marine who warns the class not to expect him to be their friend. Hupfer gives Hercules a yearlong project. He must perform the twelve Labors of the mythical Hercules in his own life and write about each one. With his dog Mindy, his best friend Elly, a new friend named Henry, his brother's girlfriend Viola (who Hercules jokes is a vampire), and a street full of neighbors, he finds his Labors in a house full of wild cats, an overnight drive for nine kinds of plants, a spray-painted maple tree, a fierce storm, a school bus ride in a snowstorm, and more.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Labors of Hercules Beal
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 Labors of Hercules Beal. 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 student tell his class he called three circuses to borrow a big cat?
✓ Answer
The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt
Hercules has no idea how to perform his first Labor, capturing the Nemean Lion, since there are no lions roaming Cape Cod. During Braining and Sharing he reports that he called three circuses to borrow one, and Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer says everyone except the last two speakers has started well.
- First half
In what book does a school in an old rope factory sway like a schooner in high winds?
✓ Answer
The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt
Dr. S. Klatt founded the Cape Cod Academy for Environmental Sciences in an old rope works, and its third-floor storeroom still has wide plank floors and beams with the bark on. After a humid day it smells of tar, and when the wind really blows the whole building sways, which probably makes the teachers below nervous.
- First half
In what book does a boy hold thirty-six Bulbophyllum plants on his lap all the way from Cleveland?
✓ Answer
The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt
The wholesale workers laugh when Viola pulls up in her small black Volkswagen Beetle, but she packs all nine kinds of plants in, stacking them up to the roof. Hercules has to hold the thirty-six Bulbophyllum on his lap for the whole long drive home to Truro.
- Second half
In what book does a boy hold a school bus's slipping gear shift in place during a snowstorm?
✓ Answer
The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt
Mindy hurts her right front leg running down the Dune in slushy snow while Achilles is away at the hospital in Brewster with Viola's friend, so Hercules begs his grumpy neighbor Mr. Moby for help. Mr. Moby drives them toward the Provincetown Animal Hospital in his school bus, and because the transmission keeps slipping, Hercules has to hang on to the gear shift up Route 6.
- Second half
In what book do two gallery men with a clipboard get called "The Bane of the Artist"?
✓ Answer
The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt
Hercules spots a huge limo outside Mrs. Savage's house and two men looking over her sculptures as if they were for sale, one marking things down on a clipboard. She explains that a gallery in Hyannis is holding a show called The Animals of the Serengeti, and the deal is that she has to sell every piece, even Ira.
- Near the end
In what book does a worker give away a store's geraniums, thinking they were gifts for shoppers?
✓ Answer
The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt
Between classes, Hercules hauls wagonloads of pink, white and red geraniums up to the checkout counter so they will sell. When he comes back after school, Russell has handed every one of them out and insists he's pretty sure Hercules told him they were gifts.
