Embedded Files
For each book used for Book Bowl competition, SVdP staff members share responsibilities for developing questions. For books being used for the first time in competition, a First Reader is responsible for writing an initial set of 45-60 questions and answers for any given book and identifying the difficulty level for all questions. A Second Reader makes suggestions regarding wording changes/additional questions based on the work of the First Reader. Finally, a Third Reader weighs in with any additional editing suggestions. For books which have been used in previous competitions, a single Reader reviews existing questions and answers and updates as needed; the competition coordinator then reviews the updates before the question set is finalized for use again. Our goal during this process is to develop a set of questions that are comprehensive, fair, and touch on basic literary elements (plot, character, setting, conflict, and themes).
Once a question set for a book is finalized, forty questions are selected for use in competition rounds with any excess questions assigned as needed for tie-breaker purposes. As a general rule, questions used from any book become more difficult as the rounds progress. The format for competition rounds requires that every team will have to answer one or more questions about every book used for the competition.
Below are questions and answers developed for The Graveyard Book and last used in 2017 (that book is now being used as part of an SVdP class and will never again be used in competition). The questions and answers should serve as a good sampling of what participants will encounter during competition and how efforts are made to allow for some variance relative to acceptable responses.
Q: Bod is a nickname that is short for what? A: Nobody, p. 25
Q: What is the last name of the graveyard couple who become Bod’s new parents? A: Owens, p. 23
Q: What was Mr. Owens’ job before he died? A: Cabinetmaker OR carpenter OR woodworker, p. 31
Q: Caius Pompeius asked to be buried in the graveyard rather than have his body returned to what city? A: Rome, p. 9
Q: Which character called for charity from the dead and convinced the graveyard residents to let Bod stay? A: Lady on the Grey, pp. 30-31
Q: What does “the Grey” refer to in the title “Lady on the Grey”? A: A horse, p. 30
Q: Which character besides Bod has been given the Freedom of the Graveyard? A: Silas, p. 23
Q: Name one of the three books Silas brings Bod to help him learn his alphabet and how to read? A: A Is for Apple OR B Is for Ball OR The Cat in the Hat, p. 38
Q: What do Scarlett’s parents assume Bod is when she talks about him? A: An imaginary friend OR imaginary, p. 42
Q: Scarlett theorizes that the Indigo Man in the tomb serves the same function as something found on a farm. What is that something? A: A scarecrow, p. 54
Q: The Sleer guards three treasures while waiting for the return of the Master. Name one of those treasures. A: Brooch OR goblet (cup) OR knife, p. 56
Q: According to the book, every cemetery has a grave so run-down and creepy that you want to be somewhere else. Who does that grave belong to for use as a gateway? A: The ghouls, p. 61
Q: When Silas leaves to uncover things that can’t be known in the graveyard, who does he leave to watch over Bod? A: Miss Lupescu, p. 66
Q: Miss Lupescu tells Bod that among the types of people in the world are the living and dead, ghouls, and also the solitary types. Who does she identify as a solitary type? A: Silas, p. 71
Q: What type of creature is the 33rd President of the United States? A: A ghoul, p. 80
Q: What is the name of the city inhabited by the ghouls? A: Ghulheim, p. 82
Q: While being carried in a sack by the ghoul known as the famous writer Victor Hugo, what does Bod use to try cutting his way free? A: A screw, p. 89
Q: What fate do the ghouls have planned for Bod? A: Make him a ghoul, p. 84
Q: According to Miss Lupescu, what creatures saved Bod’s life three times while he was a prisoner of the ghouls? A: Night-gaunts OR gaunts, p. 94
Q: Miss Lupescu transforms into a Hound of God in order to rescue Bod from the ghouls. Hounds of God are known by men as Lycanthropes or what other term? A: Werewolves, p. 97
Q: What is the full name of the person who tends to Bod’s injuries when he falls from the apple tree? A: Liza Hempstock, pp. 108, 112
Q: In addition to being drowned, how else was Liza Hempstock killed? A: Burned, pp. 110-111
Q: What does Liza Hempstock want that she says isn’t “that much to ask” for? A: A headstone, p. 113
Q: What does Bod take from the Master’s tomb to sell in order to have money to buy a headstone? A: The brooch, p. 116
Q: Whose name is on the business card Abanazer Bolger thinks of after taking the brooch from Bod? A: Jack OR the man Jack, p. 127
Q: Abanazer Bolger and Tom Hustings debate calling the man Jack about the boy because losing the boy would mean what? A: Losing the treasure, p. 130
Q: What talent does Liza Hempstock give Bod that he had been unable to learn from Mr. Pennyworth? A: Fading, p. 132
Q: What does Bod end up using for Liza’s headstone? A: A large glass paperweight OR a paperweight, p. 143
Q: Why has Silas never danced the Danse Macabre? A: He is neither living nor dead, p. 149
Q: What do the living take from the graveyard in preparation for the Danse Macabre? A: winter blooms OR flower blossoms OR flowers OR white flowers, pp. 153-155
Q: What rule governs who can dance together during the Danse Macabre? A: The living must dance with the dead OR the dead must dance with the living, p. 158
Q: Who does Bod dance with first during the Dance Macabre? A: Liza Hempstock, p. 159
Q: Who does Bod dance with last during the Danse Macabre? A: The Lady on the Grey, p. 161
Q: At the Convocation’s gathering to celebrate good deeds, what does Mr. Dandy criticize the man Jack for? A: Not killing Bod, pp. 168-169
Q: What was the name of the book that Bod took without permission from Thackeray Porringer? A: Robinson Crusoe, p, 175
Q: When Bod Dreamwalks in Nick’s mind, he plays on Nick’s fear of what? A: Spiders, p. 196
Q: The policemen taking Bod to the police station strike someone with their car, forcing them to stop. Who does Bod claim the injured person is? A: His Dad, p. 203
Q: We are told that Miss Lupescu is a werewolf and can infer that Silas is a vampire. What type of creature is their companion Kandar? A: Mummy, p. 239
Q: What does Scarlett give as her reason for wanting to hug Bod upon seeing him again for the first time in over ten years? A: To know if he was real, p. 236
Q: Who were Robert and Carlotta Dorian? A: Bod's real parents, p. 244
Q: Mr. Dandy, Mr. Tar, Mr. Ketch, and Mr. Nimble all share the same first name. What is it? A: Jack, p. 257
Q: Bod traps Jack Ketch in Mr. Carstairs grave. How does he trap Mr. Dandy, Mr. Tar, and Mr. Nimble? A: With the ghoul-gate, pp. 271-274
Q: According to Mr. Dandy, the fulfillment of a prophecy of a child who would walk the borderland between the living and the dead would mean what? A: The end of the Jacks OR the end of the old order, p. 271
Q: Where do Jack Frost and Bod have their final confrontation? A: The Master's tomb OR the tomb of the Sleer, p. 277
Q: What did Jack Frost say that caused the Sleer to take him away? A: He was the master of the Sleer, p. 283
Q: What happened to Miss Lupescu in Krakow? A: She died, p. 289
Q: When Silas offers to take Bod to a real restaurant, what does Bod want to eat? A: Pizza, p. 290
Q: What was the name of the group that Silas and Miss Lupescu belonged to which guarded the borders of things? A: The Honour Guard, pp. 302-303
Q: As Silas and Bod say their goodbyes, Silas tells Bod he will send for him if what happens? A: Silas is in trouble, p. 305
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