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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSIt is 1925, and fourteen-year-old Ida Bidson has big plans: pass her eighth-grade exit exam, move to Steamboat Springs, and eventually become a teacher. Then her teacher, Miss Fletcher, gets word that her mother is gravely ill back in Iowa. When Miss Fletcher boards the Wednesday train, the school board chair, Mr. Jordan, announces that school will simply close until fall, meaning Ida and her classmate Tom Kohl will miss the exit exams they need to move on to high school. Tom has a wild idea: Ida should secretly take over the school herself. With the whole class voting in favor and her parents quietly in the know, Ida pins up her hair and opens the schoolhouse door the very next morning, determined to teach eight students, prepare for her own exam, and keep the whole arrangement hidden from the school board.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Secret School
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 Secret School. 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 do eight children in a small valley take a vote to keep their classroom going in private?
✓ Answer
The Secret School by Avi
At lunch, Tom asks who is smartest, and Natasha says Ida. Eight hands shoot up to make Ida their teacher, kept hidden from the adults. The unanimous vote is what makes the plan possible.
- First half
In what book does a fourteen-year-old confess to a county inspector that she is not really a teacher?
✓ Answer
The Secret School by Avi
When Miss Sedgewick is heading back to her car, Ida realizes the inspector won't bring an exam for her unless she knows the truth. Ida chases her down and admits everything. Miss Sedgewick says she has never heard anything quite like it.
- First half
In what book does a bleached elk skull with antlers hang above the open doors of a run-down barn?
✓ Answer
The Secret School by Avi
When Ida arrives at the Bixler farm, she takes in the dilapidated porch, the rusty wheelless truck, and the white antlers hanging like long fingers of ice over the lopsided barn doors. The image marks the place as the saddest farm in the valley.
- Second half
In what book does a girl recite Longfellow while shouting "Brake, clutch!" between the lines?
✓ Answer
The Secret School by Avi
Ida memorizes "A Psalm of Life" as she drives her little brother in the Model T. The funny mash-up shows how she squeezes studying into every spare second.
- Second half
In what book does a mule poke its head from a closet and bray in an angry official's face?
✓ Answer
The Secret School by Avi
When Mr. Jordan bursts in to shut things down, he hears stamping from the wardrobe and opens the door. Ruckus brays right in his face, embarrassing him in front of the children.
- Near the end
In what book does a girl slip in the mud before dawn and sob into a cow's belly while milking?
✓ Answer
The Secret School by Avi
On the morning of the big exam, Ida is up before dawn, slips in the muddy yard, and finally lets herself sob into Bluebell's side. The cow turns to look at her.
