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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSJames Robinson has 20/20 vision in each eye, but his eyes are misaligned and have trouble working together. When he was a baby, his brain dealt with seeing two of everything by ignoring the image from one eye, and in his central vision it still switches between his eyes every couple of seconds, which makes lines of text and baseballs seem to jump. In this illustrated memoir, he looks back on growing up with those eyes, from pretending to read during first-grade D.E.A.R. time to swinging twice at a ball that stays on the T-ball tee, failing the same red-dot vision test year after year, and feeling people stare at him. The book plays with its own pages, asking readers to turn it over, read pages backward, and try his vision tests for themselves. James grows up to become a documentary filmmaker, and in the second part of the book he shares what he has learned about getting people to care.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen
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 Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen. 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 first grader say he's on page thirty-two, then turn pages backward to seventeen?
✓ Answer
Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen by James Robinson
When Mrs. Surface asked what page he was on, James whispered "Thirty-two" and opened his book to a random page. He was holding it upside down, and with each carefully timed page turn he went backward. By the time he was caught, he was on page seventeen.
- First half
In what book does a coach's son miss a first grader's strikeout while debating Cheetos versus Cheez-Its?
✓ Answer
Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen by James Robinson
The coach's older son, a third grader who helps keep the team organized on the bench, was deep in a debate over Cheetos versus Cheez-Its and missed the whole thing. When James calmly says, "Oh, I struck out," the boy protests, "But you can't strike out," and is promptly told to sit down.
- First half
In what book does a new student from Tokyo report doing ninety math flash cards in two minutes?
✓ Answer
Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen by James Robinson
James's friend Takashi, whose father's job had been transferred from Tokyo to Chicago, answers "Ninety" when the teacher asks how many flash cards he finished in two minutes, nearly fifteen more than anyone else in the class. Kayleigh whispers, "More like thirty minutes," and James's lingering regret is that he never actually stood up for his friend.
- Second half
In what book is a first grader marked wrong for pointing west instead of saying the word?
✓ Answer
Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen by James Robinson
When an aptitude test asked first grader Kirk where the sun sets, he walked to the window, checked the horizon, and pointed westward. The administrator marked it incorrect, since the correct answer was the word West and there were no points for pointing.
- Second half
In what book does narration recorded on the family PC play back as "Ow bean is grown in the"?
✓ Answer
Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen by James Robinson
James pressed Record at the same moment he started speaking, and the computer's delay cut off the first word of his documentary narration, making him sound as if someone were pinching his nose. He played it back after Mom kept gently asking to hear it.
- Near the end
In what book is a light-green check-writing machine turned into the Listen-O-Meter?
✓ Answer
Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen by James Robinson
James found a 1960s Paymaster on eBay and disguised its eight mini-levers as three large ones labeled Blocks, Prolongations, and Repetitions. In his film, the Listen-O-Meter adds a journalist's stutters back one type at a time so viewers can build their tolerance as they watch.
