BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Maggie Stephens has a stutter so severe that she stabs her own hand with a pencil to avoid reading aloud in class, and after her third school expels her, her parents send her to stay with her grandfather Fred in rural Cornwall, England, while they decide her future. The threat of being sent to Granville Place, a feared institution for disabled children, hangs over her visit. On her first night in February 1963, Maggie glimpses a mysterious silver creature moving through the snow-covered forest called Wildoak, and soon she discovers something extraordinary: a young snow leopard, alone and far from any place he belongs, who will change everything about how she understands herself and her own voice.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Wildoak
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 Wildoak. 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 girl name a pet spider in her room after a character in her favorite story?
✓ Answer
Wildoak by C. C. Harrington
Maggie calls the spider in her cupboard Charlotte because Charlotte's Web has been her favorite book for years. She knew the moment she found the spider what its name had to be.
- First half
In what book does an inventor grandfather confess he is secretly building a flying automobile?
✓ Answer
Wildoak by C. C. Harrington
Fred whispers his most ambitious secret project to Maggie, a flying car. He has invented many odd contraptions, including mechanical berry-picking gloves and see-in-the-dark goggles.
- First half
In what book does a badger creep up to a trapped, bleeding cub and gently lick his wounded paw clean?
✓ Answer
Wildoak by C. C. Harrington
As Rumpus lies helpless in the trap, a mother badger approaches and, instead of attacking, gently cleans the blood and dirt from his wound. It is a quiet act of kindness between wild creatures.
- Second half
In what book does a girl block on the word "stamp" while a shopkeeper stares?
✓ Answer
Wildoak by C. C. Harrington
Maggie forces herself into the post office to mail her letter, but she cannot push out the word for a stamp. The woman behind the counter cuts her off and finishes the word for her, which makes Maggie feel even worse.
- Second half
In what book does a man teach a girl to hunt for tiny cowrie shells on a stony beach?
✓ Answer
Wildoak by C. C. Harrington
Fred takes Maggie to Penwyth Cove near the Helford River, where his nan once taught him. He shows her how to find pinkish cowrie shells no bigger than a fingernail and offers her a shilling if they can beat his record.
- Near the end
In what book does a girl fire a flare at a chicken coop to cause a diversion?
✓ Answer
Wildoak by C. C. Harrington
Sneaking onto the farm, Maggie sees a man about to shoot the caged leopard. Instead of aiming her sailing flare at the sky as planned, she fires it at the chicken coop, sending panicked birds and animals into chaos.
