BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSSet in the years after the Civil War, this is the story of Paul-Edward Logan, a boy born to a white Georgia plantation owner and his freed Black and Native American woman. Paul grows up alongside his white half-brothers on his father's land, learning to read and do carpentry, but never fully belonging to either world. When a forbidden horse race forces him and his best friend to flee, Paul begins a long journey through lumber camps and river towns, working and saving with one fierce goal in mind: to own a piece of land that is truly his own. This prequel to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry follows the Logan family's origins, showing how the pride and determination that define that family were hard-won by one young man who refused to settle for less than what he believed was rightfully his.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Land
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 Land. 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 woman keep her treasures in a blue wooden box painted with flowers?
✓ Answer
The Land by Mildred D. Taylor
Paul's mama Deborah shows her children the wooden box that Old Josh painted with flowers and built for her when she came into womanhood. She tells them it holds her savings, a watch, a locket, and small keepsakes that she wants Paul and Cassie to have someday.
- First half
In what book does a boy spend Christmas Eve alone in dark woods after a whipping?
✓ Answer
The Land by Mildred D. Taylor
After Paul is stripped and whipped in front of the visiting Waverly family, he runs naked into the woods. He sits at the creek bank into the night, not caring that it is Christmas Eve, only thankful the darkness hides his face.
- First half
In what book does a friend defend a half-white companion saying, "We're brothers"?
✓ Answer
The Land by Mildred D. Taylor
When a logger named Johnny B. picks a fight with Paul at Miz Mary's place, Mitchell steps in and tells the room they are brothers. He says one came out white and one came out black but they are brothers just the same, then a brawl breaks out.
- Second half
In what book does a young craftsman make a night table from a catalog picture as a test?
✓ Answer
The Land by Mildred D. Taylor
Paul-Edward arrives in Vicksburg looking for work and Luke Sawyer points to a picture of an oak night table, telling him to make it as a test. Paul finishes the table in days, impresses banker B. R. Tillman's wife, and lands a fifty-fifty partnership with Luke Sawyer.
- Second half
In what book is a baby's name taken away because a master's wife wants it for her own daughter?
✓ Answer
The Land by Mildred D. Taylor
Caroline tells Paul-Edward how her grandmother Rose named her baby daughter Rachel, but the slave master's wife forbade it because she was naming her own baby Rachel. The grandmother was whipped for using the name in private, and the family kept it a secret. Caroline shares the story to explain why her mother is cold to Paul.
- Near the end
In what book does a bride in an ivory dress ride to a wedding feast of hams and roasts?
✓ Answer
The Land by Mildred D. Taylor
Mitchell marries Caroline at Mount Elam Baptist Church in August. She wears an ivory dress with baby's breath in her hair. Paul-Edward stands as witness while fighting a heaviness in his heart, and the Perry family lays out a tremendous feast at the farm afterward.
