Ellie: Welcome back, everyone, to the next competition in The Sister Chronicles series!
Abby: Today, as you might recall, we will be doing the Authors and Books Competition.
Ellie: Here, we have with us my mom, who will be reading from a stack of cards. There will be a variety of questions relating to literature on those cards.
Abby: We are both currently standing behind two podiums, each with a bright red button inset into its surface.
Ellie: After my mom reads aloud the question, the first person with the answer will hit the button and say the answer.
Abby: Each question is worth a different number of points. The minimum is two, and the maximum is five.
Ellie: So if we get the answer right, my mom will award us with the corresponding number of points.
Abby: If we get it wrong, we lose one point, and yes, there are negatives.
Ellie: If we hit the button at the same time, my mom will close her eyes and spin in a circle for ten seconds before pointing at one of us. Even if she doesn't point directly at us, whoever's direction her arm is leaning toward will be the one who can answer.
Abby: If we get the answer wrong, the other person will have a chance to answer and could get full points.
Ellie's Mom: Are you both ready to play?
Ellie: Yes!
Abby: Yes!
Ellie's Mom: All right! Your first question is worth three points. What year did Louisa May Alcott publish Little Women?
Ellie (slams the button): 1868!
Ellie's Mom: Correct! Good work, Ellie.
Ellie (bowing): Thank you!
Ellie's Mom: Your next question is worth two points. Who wrote Gulliver's Travels?
Abby (hits the buzzer): Jonathan Swift!
Ellie's Mom: That is correct. The third question is worth five points. The novel Wuthering Heights was published under a pseudonym. What was the pseu-
Ellie: Ellis Bell!
Ellie's Mom: Correct. The score is currently Ellie: 8 Abby: 2
Ellie: Yay!
Ellie's Mom: Who was the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927?
Ellie (bops the button): Henri Bergson!
Ellie's Mom: Nice work! That was worth five points.
Abby: Eek! I better start catching up.
Ellie's Mom: In the novel Great Expectations, what is Pip's full name?
Abby (slams the buzzer): Phillip Pirrip!
Ellie's Mom: Good work! That was worth three points. Next question: In Pride and Prejudice, what is Mr. Darcy's first name?
Ellie (hits the button): Fitzwilliam!
Ellie's Mom: Correct. That was worth three points as well. Now, this next one is going to require much thought. Are you ready?
Ellie: Oh yeah.
Abby: Uh huh!
Ellie's Mom: Explain, in your own words, what Thomas Paine's Common Sense is about.
Fifteen seconds later.
Ellie and Abby slam the buzzer at the same time.
Ellie's Mom (closes her eyes and spins for ten seconds): Who did I point to?
Ellie and Abby: Abby!
Ellie's Mom: Abby, you may answer then!
Abby: Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense in order to encourage the American colonists to fight for equal rights.
Ellie's Mom: Nicely put. That was four points! The score is now Ellie: 16 Abby: 9
Ellie: I'm still in the lead!
Abby (pretends to laugh evilly): Not for long!
Ellie's Mom: There are three more questions.
Ellie: Bring 'em on!
Ellie's Mom (laughs): I love your enthusiasm. Which one of Edgar Allan Poe's books has the character Nu-nu?
Abby (hits buzzer): The Tell-Tale Heart!
Ellie's Mom: I'm sorry. That is incorrect. You now have 8 points.
Ellie (bops the button): The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket?
Ellie's Mom: Yes, that is correct! Five points to you.
Ellie does a fist pump.
Ellie's Mom: Your penultimate question is a true or false one. Author Anne Brontë was born March 12, 1832. If false, state her real birthday.
Abby (slams the button): False! Anne Brontë was born on January 17, 1820.
Ellie's Mom: Correct! That was worth four points. Ellie, you have 21 points and Abby, you have 12 points. Your final question will allow you to take two points from the other person.
Abby: Ooh! Even if I do get the two points, I won't win, but the score will be closer!
Ellie: This is exciting!
Ellie's Mom: In The Adventure of the Red-Headed League, what is Vincent Spaulding's real name?
Ellie (hits the button hard): John Clay!
Ellie's Mom: Congratulations, Ellie! You won, with 23 points!
Ellie (bowing): Thank you, thank you!
Abby (smiling): I knew you'd win! Great work!
Ellie: I can't wait for the next competition!
Abby: Thank you for watching the Authors and Books Competition! Come back soon for the last one...