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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSBorn into slavery on a Maryland plantation around 1821, Harriet Tubman grows up knowing cruelty, hard work, and the constant fear of being sold South. As a young girl called Minty, she is hired out to strangers who beat and starve her, yet she refuses to be broken. Her determination to survive those early years sets the stage for one of the most remarkable acts of courage in American history: a decision that will take her from a life of bondage to a path no one around her can fully imagine.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Story of Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad
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 Story of Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad. 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 two-pound weight from a store scale slam into a girl's forehead?
✓ Answer
The Story of Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad by Kate McMullan
Furious at being blocked, the overseer grabs a two-pound weight from the store's scale and hurls it at the escaping man. It strikes Minty instead, knocking her unconscious and giving her the scar she would carry for the rest of her life.
- First half
In what book do three frightened brothers force their sister to turn back from a midnight flight to freedom?
✓ Answer
The Story of Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad by Kate McMullan
On their first escape attempt, Harriet's three brothers grow terrified of every owl hoot and frog croak. They grab her and force her back to the plantation, even as she fights them tooth and nail.
- First half
In what book does a runaway hand her precious patchwork quilt to a Quaker woman as a thank-you gift?
✓ Answer
The Story of Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad by Kate McMullan
With no money to repay the Quaker woman who gave her instructions and a note to the Hunns, Harriet hands over the most beautiful thing she owns. Giving up the marriage quilt shows how much the chance at freedom means to her.
- Second half
In what book does a guide put a pistol to a frightened man's head and say, "Move or die"?
✓ Answer
The Story of Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad by Kate McMullan
After hiding in a swamp all day, one runaway refused to keep going. Harriet knew a captured man would be beaten until he revealed the whole network, so she forced him to move. He reached Canada a few days later.
- Second half
In what book does a friend named Thomas Garrett give an old couple money and train passes in Wilmington?
✓ Answer
The Story of Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad by Kate McMullan
Garrett, a Quaker who owned a shoe factory, had helped Harriet on her own first escape. Years later he helped her elderly parents finish the trip to Canada in comfort by train.
- Near the end
In what book does a Union nurse with a half-fare pass get thrown into a baggage car by four men?
✓ Answer
The Story of Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad by Kate McMullan
After the war, a conductor refused to honor her pass because she was black. He called three more men to help him throw Harriet into the dark baggage car, where she rode bruised and bitter all the way to New York.
