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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSCassie Logan is a seventeen-year-old Black girl living in rural Mississippi in October 1941, preparing to return to school in Jackson with her older brother Stacey. When Stacey comes home driving a gleaming 1938 Ford he bought with his own savings, the whole family feels a flash of pride in a world that otherwise works hard to make their lives small. But trouble follows close behind. The white Aames brothers terrorize their friend Harris Mitchum during a night hunting trip on the Rosa Lee creek, and weeks later a chance encounter with those same men in the nearby town of Strawberry turns violent in seconds. What happens in that garage sets off a desperate race through the Mississippi night, pushing Cassie and her friends toward Memphis with the law at their backs, a friend's life on the line, and no clear idea of what comes next.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Road to Memphis
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 Road to Memphis. 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 girl wait in a mule-hitched wagon for her older brother's bus?
✓ Answer
The Road to Memphis by Mildred D. Taylor
The opening scene finds Cassie, Christopher-John, and Little Man waiting at Soldiers Bridge Crossroads for Stacey to come home from Jackson. The hot, muggy weather and the late bus set the tone for the trouble ahead.
- First half
In what book is a longtime preacher of hellfire sermons laid to rest as folks come to mourn him?
✓ Answer
The Road to Memphis by Mildred D. Taylor
Reverend Charles Gabson, the only pastor Cassie's family has ever known at Great Faith, dies just after Thanksgiving. His funeral brings the whole community together and sets up the trip to Strawberry.
- First half
In what book does a girl learn about the Lloyd Gaines case from a new acquaintance who studied law?
✓ Answer
The Road to Memphis by Mildred D. Taylor
Solomon Bradley tells Cassie about Lloyd Gaines, the Black man who applied to the University of Missouri law school in 1936, was rejected, and took his case all the way to the Supreme Court. The case offers a glimpse of hope that Cassie could one day fight to study law in the South.
- Second half
In what book does a Black teenager push open a restroom door marked "WHITE LADIES ONLY"?
✓ Answer
The Road to Memphis by Mildred D. Taylor
Cassie defies the sign because the toilet sits unused while she is told to squat in bushes. A white woman catches her, summons the men, and the encounter becomes the source of her deepest humiliation.
- Second half
In what book does a doctor named McClurg turn a sick Black soldier away from a hospital?
✓ Answer
The Road to Memphis by Mildred D. Taylor
Stacey carries the unconscious Clarence to a small-town hospital, but Doctor McClurg coldly tells them they have no business there. The cleaning woman secretly signals them to drive around back.
- Near the end
In what book does a pregnant Black girl get knocked to the ground by Statler Aames?
✓ Answer
The Road to Memphis by Mildred D. Taylor
Sissy confronts Jeremy Simms at Soldiers Bridge Crossroads, accusing him of helping Moe escape. Statler shoves her with such force that she falls hard upon the ground despite her bulging stomach.
