BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSThirteen-year-old gymnast Evie Harris arrives in Berlin for the 1936 Olympics needing more than a medal. Her family survived the Dust Bowl by fleeing Oklahoma for California, and she is counting on Olympic gold to finally pull them out of poverty. On her first night in the city, a note slipped under her door leads her to a bridge over the Spreekanal, where a British journalist and a German weightlifter make her a strange offer that has nothing to do with gymnastics, one that promises to help her "take home the gold" a very different way. As she settles into the Olympic Village, Evie also gets to know Heinz Fischer, her cheerful German host from the Hitler Youth, and starts noticing the gap between the shiny, flag-draped Berlin the Nazis want the world to see and what is hidden just behind it. Torn between her Olympic dream and a far riskier offer, Evie has to decide how much she is willing to risk, and who she can actually trust, before the games are over.
Free Battle of the Books questions for War Games
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 War Games. 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 plotter buy four orders of bratwurst and eat every one himself?
✓ Answer
War Games by Alan Gratz
Karl shows up early to the meeting in the Opernplatz because he wanted time to eat, and he sheepishly admits the extra plates were never meant for anyone else. His enormous appetite becomes a running joke.
- First half
In what book does a girl recognize her tour guide's face on a poster recruiting ten-year-olds?
✓ Answer
War Games by Alan Gratz
Evie spots Heinz in full Hitler Youth uniform on a bus stop advertisement and teases him for being a poster boy. His shame makes no sense to her until she finally learns his family's secret.
- First half
In what book do two roommates throw back their covers at once, both dressed to sneak out?
✓ Answer
War Games by Alan Gratz
Evie has been sweating under her blanket waiting for Mary to fall asleep, and Mary has been doing exactly the same thing. They laugh, Mary promises to keep Evie's secret, and Evie heads for the window while Mary heads for the door.
- Second half
In what book does a girl admit she thought a door marked verboten led to a bathroom?
✓ Answer
War Games by Alan Gratz
Evie and her crew had combed the whole stadium for the tunnel entrance and walked right past the one guarded door because Evie could not read German. Ursula is furious, and Heinz is the one who had noticed it all along.
- Second half
In what book does a coach console a gymnast with "Nobody expected you to be here in the first place"?
✓ Answer
War Games by Alan Gratz
Coach Miele means it kindly after Evie's fall in the final, but she says the words land like sand in her face. She still has a voluntary routine to get through, and she skips her hardest element out of fear.
- Near the end
In what book does a vault combination fail because an American entered the date in the wrong order?
✓ Answer
War Games by Alan Gratz
Evie dials a boy's birthday as month, day, year and burns two of her three allowed tries while a guard whistles closer. Ursula shoves her aside, enters it the European way with the day first, and the door swings open.
