BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSKiana Roubini is a California girl temporarily living with her father and stepmother in Greenwich, Connecticut while her mother films a movie in Utah. On the first day of school, her stepmother never shows up to register her, so Kiana slips into the nearest available class using a schedule that got mixed up with hers. That class turns out to be SCS-8, the Self-Contained Special Eighth-Grade Class, known throughout the school as the Unteachables, a group of students with learning struggles, behavior problems, and difficult histories, taught by Mr. Kermit, a burned-out teacher who spends his days doing crossword puzzles and counting down the months until early retirement.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Unteachables
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 Unteachables. 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 teacher empty a giant coffee mug onto a wastebasket bonfire to put it out?
✓ Answer
The Unteachables by Gordon Korman
When Mr. Kermit walks into his new classroom on the first day, he finds his students gathered around a flaming wastebasket. He calmly pours his coffee onto the fire, introduces himself, and silently begins counting down to retirement.
- First half
In what book does a boy dump half a pepper shaker into a classmate's split pea soup?
✓ Answer
The Unteachables by Gordon Korman
Bored without sports to focus on, Barnstorm devotes his lunch to teasing Aldo. The pepper trick triggers a green geyser of soup across the cafeteria and pushes the noise meter to red.
- First half
In what book does a class steal an entire shipment of vuvuzelas and dump them into a river?
✓ Answer
The Unteachables by Gordon Korman
The Unteachables decide to spare their teacher the misery of Spirit Week by hijacking the school's noisemakers. They load 1,008 vuvuzelas into Parker's pickup and drive across the lawn to the Greenwich River, where Mr. Kermit tumbles in with a carton and the kids knock most of the rest in while rescuing him.
- Second half
In what book does a chunk of gingersnap drop into the engine of a vintage Corvette being repaired?
✓ Answer
The Unteachables by Gordon Korman
After being whacked by Barnstorm's crutch, Elaine spits the cookie over the catwalk rail straight into a half-disassembled Corvette engine. Jake panics because sugar in a gas tank can ruin a car.
- Second half
In what book does a girl realize ZACHARY KERMIT can be rearranged into CRAZY TRAM HIKE?
✓ Answer
The Unteachables by Gordon Korman
Once Parker starts using anagrams to read, Kiana finds them addictive too. She scrambles classmates' names for fun, and turns ALDO BRAFF into FOLD A BARF, which makes even Aldo laugh.
- Near the end
In what book does an old Chrysler completely fall apart in a school driveway, leaving the engine on the pavement?
✓ Answer
The Unteachables by Gordon Korman
After being fired, Mr. Kermit climbs into his rusted car only for it to disintegrate at the parking lot exit. The motor, battery, radiator, and transmission all spill onto the pavement, and he flips up his collar and walks home in the rain.
