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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Kiranmala has always found her Indian immigrant parents a little embarrassing, with their folktales about fanged rakkhosh demons and their insistence that she dress as a real princess every Halloween. On her twelfth birthday, she comes home to find them gone and a terrifying demon crashing through her kitchen in Parsippany, New Jersey. Two princes in silk turbans show up at her door with winged horses, claiming her parents have been pulled into another dimension when a protective spell collapsed. Kiran has no idea that the wild stories her parents told were true, or that she is herself a princess from a magical kingdom, and now she has to travel through an interdimensional transit corridor, a bizarre bazaar, a serpent kingdom, and a land of demons to find her family before the failing spell destroys them for good.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Serpent's Secret
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 Serpent's Secret. 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 is a girl turning twelve on Halloween when her parents get whisked into another dimension?
✓ Answer
The Serpent's Secret by Sayantani DasGupta
The story opens with Kiranmala's twelfth birthday, which is also Halloween. A protective spell that has shielded her family for twelve years expires that day, dragging her parents to another dimension.
- First half
In what book does a stable girl named Mati throw a nectar pitcher at a prince's head?
✓ Answer
The Serpent's Secret by Sayantani DasGupta
Mati is the stable master's daughter and the princes' childhood friend. She teases Neel and chucks the nectar pitcher at him after he messes up her hair, showing how comfortable they all are together.
- First half
In what book do flying demon fangirls chase a prince and chant "Princie! Princie! He's so fly"?
✓ Answer
The Serpent's Secret by Sayantani DasGupta
A group of lovesick rakkhoshis who call themselves the Neelkamalas swoop in to chase Neel through the night sky. They send him fan mail and mix-tapes, and they threaten to eat Kiran out of jealousy.
- Second half
In what book do the heroes face a seven-headed cobra named Naga in a throne room of writhing snakes?
✓ Answer
The Serpent's Secret by Sayantani DasGupta
Naga is revealed to be the protagonist's seven brothers fused into one cobra body. He marches Kiran and Neel into the underwater throne room of the Palace of Desires.
- Second half
In what book does a girl chew dark seeds in place of booger-covered iron pellets to fool an old demon?
✓ Answer
The Serpent's Secret by Sayantani DasGupta
Ai-Ma snorts the iron bits out of her left nostril to test whether the small stranger is really family. Kiran palms the pellets and noisily chews Neel's dark seeds instead so Ai-Ma's failing hearing is convinced.
- Near the end
In what book does a wise levitating professor float upside down while teaching about the life cycle of a star?
✓ Answer
The Serpent's Secret by Sayantani DasGupta
Einstein-ji's pleasure flips him so his moustache dangles below his cross-legged feet. From this position he pulls down a rolling chart showing how stars become black holes.
