BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSSixteen-year-old Jessica Carlisle is a dedicated sprinter at Liberty High who has just set a new league record in the 400-meter race when a devastating bus accident on the way home from a track meet changes everything. A junk hauler with bad brakes barrels into the school bus, and Jessica wakes up in the hospital to find her right leg amputated below the knee. Running was not just something she did; it was who she was, and now she faces the painful reality of learning to move through the world in an entirely new way, all while her teammates, her family, and an unexpected new friend challenge her to find out whether her dream of running again is truly gone.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Running Dream
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 Running Dream. 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 teammate die in a bus crash on the way home from a track meet?
✓ Answer
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
Lucy was sitting in the seat in front of Jessica when the truck hit. She had joined the team to make friends in her first year of running. Her death haunts the team, and Coach Kyro starts wearing a woven name bracelet to honor her.
- First half
In what book is a high school laid out like a wagon wheel with portable classrooms in numbered wings?
✓ Answer
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
Liberty High has a courtyard hub with subject wings spoking out, like the 200 Wing for English and the 900 Wing for math. The portable classrooms with their long zigzag ramps become a real obstacle for Jessica when she's on crutches and in a wheelchair.
- First half
In what book does a girl rename a prosthetist's shop "Hankenstein's lab"?
✓ Answer
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
Jessica gives the bald, stocky prosthetist this nickname because the early brochures of pipe legs felt Frankensteinish to her. The joke becomes a sign she's coming around to the idea of a prosthesis, and Hank himself laughs when he hears it.
- Second half
In what book is a girl told that the finish line is also the starting line?
✓ Answer
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
Rosa, who has cerebral palsy, says this on her porch one early morning, and it shocks Jessica. Rosa's philosophical observations keep popping up throughout the book and shape how Jessica thinks about her own recovery. Part V of the book is even titled Starting Line.
- Second half
In what book does a father tell his daughter they took out a second mortgage for hospital bills?
✓ Answer
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
Jessica's dad sits her down at the kitchen table after a tense moment with the news crew. He explains that he's been working sixteen-hour days while insurance companies argue about who's responsible. It's the first time Jessica realizes how much her parents have been carrying alone.
- Near the end
In what book does a runner try a J-shaped racing leg and feel wobbly like a kid on a bike?
✓ Answer
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
Jessica's first try with the new leg is shaky and frightening, but three sessions later something clicks. She compares the feeling to a kid wobbling along on a bike. The breakthrough opens the way to her real return to running.
