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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSTwelve-year-old Ross Maloy is a seventh grader who just wants to stay invisible — a B-average kid who slides through school unnoticed. That plan falls apart when a puffy eyelid during summer vacation turns out to be a rare, aggressive tumor called a mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the lacrimal gland, and Ross finds himself strapped to a radiation table every afternoon after school, wearing a wide-brimmed doctor-ordered hat that makes him look like a cowboy, losing his hair in clumps, and slathering medical goop on his face just to get through the day. Wink follows Ross through eight weeks of proton radiation treatment as he tries to keep his grades up, figure out why his best friend Isaac has suddenly ghosted him, hold on to his best friend Abby before she moves to Minnesota, and deal with being the Sick Kid in a school full of people who don't know what to say.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Wink
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 Wink. 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 kid's tumor get described as the size of a gumball above his right eye?
✓ Answer
Wink by Rob Harrell
After the CT scan, Dr. Sheffler tells Ross and his dad about the mass above Ross's right eye in the lacrimal gland. The gumball comparison is one of the few details that pierces through the fog of Bad Day Number One.
- First half
In what book does a seventh grader throw a Language Arts book at a bully's neck in class?
✓ Answer
Wink by Rob Harrell
After being mocked as Guitar Man in front of the class, Ross snaps and chucks his textbook at Jimmy. A gum ball the size of a softball flies out of Jimmy's mouth, and the two end up brawling in the aisle.
- First half
In what book does a kid's face turn the color of a honey-baked ham from radiation?
✓ Answer
Wink by Rob Harrell
Ross's skin between his right eye and ear slowly darkens to a bright monkey-butt red. Dr. Throckton gives him super gooey ointment to keep it from cracking and bleeding.
- Second half
In what book does an old man say his dad pushed him out of being a trumpet player?
✓ Answer
Wink by Rob Harrell
Jerry tells Ross in the waiting room that he was really good at trumpet and dreamed of being like Chet Baker or Louis Armstrong, but his practical father pushed him into selling appliances instead. The story sits with Ross as advice about being different.
- Second half
In what book does a friend get asked to learn bass guitar in just two weeks?
✓ Answer
Wink by Rob Harrell
After making up with Abby, Ross pitches her on learning bass for the talent show even though she is moving in two weeks. Abby thinks he is crazy at first but takes to the instrument right away, with red dented fingertips to show for it.
- Near the end
In what book does a dad describe carrying around a three-hundred-pound boulder?
✓ Answer
Wink by Rob Harrell
Ross's dad explains his grief after Ross's mom died as lugging a giant boulder on his back while still parenting, working, and getting out of bed. He tells Ross that Linda saved him by helping him carry the weight, and that Ross should not try to carry his own boulder alone.
