BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSMason Buttle is the biggest, sweatiest seventh grader at Merrimack Middle School, and reading and writing are nearly impossible for him thanks to severe dyslexia. He lives with his grandmother and Uncle Drum in a crumbling old farmhouse on the edge of an apple orchard that has seen better days, and he carries a weight heavier than any of that: his best friend, Benny Kilmartin, died at the end of fifth grade after falling from a ladder in the Buttle orchard, and Lieutenant Baird from the Merrimack police keeps coming around with questions that make Mason feel like a suspect. When his school social worker, Ms. Blinny, sets him up with a voice-recognition program called the Dragon, Mason discovers that he can finally tell his own story, one spoken word at a time, and everything begins to change.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle
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 Truth as Told by Mason Buttle. 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 boy with severe dyslexia dictate his story to voice software called the Dragon?
✓ Answer
The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
Mason has severe dyslexia, so Ms. Blinny gives him speech-to-text software so he can finally write. He calls it feeding the Dragon, and his recorded story becomes the heart of the novel.
- First half
In what book do boys try to copy the famous painted caves of France inside a forgotten root cellar?
✓ Answer
The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
Mason heard the story of the famous French painted caves on Garrison Keillor's radio show. When the boys see the dim chambers of the root cellar, Calvin pulls up Lascaux on his tablet and they decide to make their own primitive art space.
- First half
In what book does a grieving father walk out of a hardware store, leaving paintbrushes on the counter?
✓ Answer
The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
Mason runs into Andy Kilmartin at Bishell's Hardware and is so glad to see him that he calls out a loud hello. Andy, struck silent by grief, walks out without a word and leaves his brushes on the counter. Two clerks watch him go, and one gives Mason a sad-to-see-you look.
- Second half
In what book do bullies with lacrosse sticks pelt two boys with apples beside a small pond?
✓ Answer
The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
Matt Drinker and Lance Pierson ambush Mason and Calvin in the orchard, scooping up soft fallen apples and flinging them with their lacrosse sticks. The chase forces the boys to split up, which sets the disaster in motion.
- Second half
In what book does a lieutenant accuse a boy of cutting a ladder rung with his own missing handsaw?
✓ Answer
The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
Lieutenant Baird arrives during dinner and reveals that someone sawed partway through the rung Benny fell from. He hints heavily that Mason is the one, devastating Mason and his family at the table.
- Near the end
In what book does a dog vault a fenced yard from a couch cushion to find his favorite human?
✓ Answer
The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
Mason watches from his upstairs window as Moonie bounds from the outdoor couch over the fence. The escape proves Moonie has been getting out on his own all along, not stolen as Matt had claimed.
