Save Me a Seat
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40 free Save Me a Seat trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Save Me a Seat tells one story through two very different fifth graders. Ravi has just arrived from India, sure that the star pupil of his old school will shine in America too. Joe has lived in the same town all his life, loves food, hates noise, and would be happy if nobody at school noticed him at all. Sarah Weeks and her co-author hand the boys alternating chapters, so readers see every misunderstanding from both desks, including the one about the class bully, Dillon Samreen. This quiz follows the book from the first roll call on Monday to the classroom showdown on Friday. Expect questions on Ravi's family and the food his mother packs, on Joe's parents, his dog and the teachers who look out for him, on Dillon's tricks and nicknames, and on the personal reflection project that brings the two boys together. A few questions cover the authors and how they wrote the novel. It works as an end-of-book check for a class novel study, as practice before a reading quiz, or as a quick test for anyone who has finished the book and wants to see how much stuck. The opening questions are the gentlest, the last ten reward close readers, and every answer comes with a short explanation.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In Save Me a Seat, which condition was Joe diagnosed with back in kindergarten?
Auditory Processing Disorder
Auditory Processing Disorder makes it hard for Joe to filter out background noise. His own father suspects the doctors made it up to earn more money.
Q 02In Save Me a Seat, Ravi was the top student at his old school in which Indian city?
Bangalore
Bangalore is where Ravi was popular and good at sports as well as first in his class, which makes his rough start in America such a shock.
Q 03For Mrs. Beam's personal reflection project in Save Me a Seat, what does Joe place in a glass dish?
A peanut M&M
A peanut M&M is Joe's way of saying there is more to him than meets the eye, since every color tastes the same inside. Dillon eats it before the guessing game starts.
Q 04In Save Me a Seat, which cartoon-inspired nickname does Dillon pin on Joe?
Puddy Tat
Puddy Tat plays on Joe's surname and the Tweety Bird cartoons. Joe hates it, even though his mother once tried to convince him it was a sign of affection.
Q 05In Save Me a Seat, which job does Joe's mother take at his school after being laid off as a nurse?
Lunch monitor
Lunch monitor duty puts her in the one part of the school day Joe loved, and on day one she blows him a kiss in front of Dillon. By Friday she has decided to give the job up.
Q 06In Save Me a Seat, Ravi says his first name, stressed on the last syllable, means what in Sanskrit?
The sun
The sun is what Ravi means, and he gets to explain it on Friday, when Mrs. Beam finally pronounces his name correctly.
Q 07For the personal reflection project in Save Me a Seat, what does Ravi bring to class in a jar?
Leeches
Leeches are his grandfather's idea, scooped from a pond near home to stand for everything the family went through on its way to America.
Q 08The title Save Me a Seat points to both boys' worry over who will sit with them where?
In the cafeteria
In the cafeteria is where both boys begin the year alone: Joe's two best friends have moved away and Ravi knows nobody. The story ends with a place being held for Ravi.
Q 09In Save Me a Seat, which language does Ravi's family mostly speak at home?
English
English was the language of Ravi's school in India and of most talk at home, so being steered toward ESL materials only makes him feel worse.
Q 10In Save Me a Seat, which food gives the final, Friday section of the story its name?
Pizza
Pizza is Friday's school meal, and every part of the book is named for a weekday and its menu, starting with Monday's chicken fingers.
Q 11In Save Me a Seat, the elementary school where Ravi and Joe start fifth grade is named for whom?
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein Elementary sits in Hamilton, where Joe has lived all his life and Ravi has only just arrived.
Q 12In Save Me a Seat, Ravi's family settles in the town of Hamilton in which US state?
New Jersey
New Jersey is also where the co-author who gave Ravi his voice settled with her own family after leaving India.
Q 13In Save Me a Seat, which diet does Ravi's family keep, making school meals a worry for his mother?
Vegetarian
Vegetarian food is all Ravi eats, so when he asks about buying his midday meal his grandmother warns that even the salad dressing is made from animal products.
Q 21In Save Me a Seat, which dessert does Joe's mom use to coax him back to the table on Tuesday?
Apple crisp
Apple crisp, served fresh with vanilla ice cream, gets Joe to eat while insisting he is still angry. A recipe for it is printed at the back of the book.
Q 22In Save Me a Seat, what is the name of Joe's dog, who is frightened of thunderstorms?
Mia
Mia greets Joe at the door after his awful first day and keeps him quiet company whenever he is upset with his parents.
Q 23In Save Me a Seat, Joe has learned that Dillon always does what just before causing trouble?
Winks
Winks are Dillon's tell, though Ravi first reads one as an offer of friendship. By Friday it is Ravi who winks at Dillon.
Q 14Which novel about an orphan does Mrs. Beam assign her class in Save Me a Seat?
Bud, Not Buddy
Bud, Not Buddy hooks both boys, who each read ahead of the class on their own. Ravi even compares being stuck in the resource room to one of its scenes.
Q 15Which first-time author, a teacher raised in India, wrote Save Me a Seat with Sarah Weeks?
Gita Varadarajan
Gita Varadarajan drafted chapters in Ravi's voice and Weeks answered in Joe's. Working that way, the pair finished the first section of the book within a week.
Q 16In Save Me a Seat, where does Dillon hide the jar he sneaks from Ravi's desk on Friday?
Down his pants
Down his pants is where Dillon has hidden stolen things before, which is what Joe is counting on. Dillon runs out of the room screaming, the jar dropping from his pant leg.
Q 17Sarah Weeks is proud that Joe and Ravi become friends in Save Me a Seat without ever doing what?
Exchanging a word
Exchanging a word is the one thing the two boys never do. A note, a smile and one small gift do all the talking.
Q 18In Save Me a Seat, what job keeps Joe's father away from home for long stretches?
Truck driver
Truck driver is the work Joe's dad took on to pay the bills. He bonds with his son over ball games but struggles to accept the diagnosis, urging Joe to toughen up.
Q 19In Save Me a Seat, Ravi carries his mother's home cooking to school in what kind of container?
A tiffin box
A tiffin box holds the food his mother cooks for him, and she later pulls it out on the walk home to prove to his grandmother that he ate it all.
Q 20In Save Me a Seat, which homemade Indian sweet does Ravi's mother send to win over his teacher?
Naan khatais
Naan khatais are Ravi's favorite cookie, and Mrs. Beam likes them so much that she asks for the recipe. One is printed at the back of the book.
Q 24In Save Me a Seat, what does Ravi call the hard-to-please grandmother who shares his new home?
Perimma
Perimma is his father's mother, quick to fault American life and her daughter-in-law's cooking. Perippa is his grandfather, while Amma and Appa are his parents.
Q 25In Save Me a Seat, Ravi's quiet grandfather once worked on which kind of plantation in India?
Tea
Tea was plucked by hand on the estate, where he had to protect the workers from dangerous wild animals. Ravi later turns the tale into a gripping story for his class.
Q 26In Save Me a Seat, Joe compares the bully Dillon to which lurking predator?
Crocodile
Crocodile is Joe's image for Dillon, with himself and Ravi as the zebras he preys on. Joe starts to break free only when he can picture Dillon as a harmless chipmunk.
Q 27In Save Me a Seat, Joe's former fourth-grade teacher Mr. Barnes always wears what in the same order?
Bow ties
Bow ties, always real ones, follow a sequence that Joe counts among his favorites. Mr. Barnes was also the first teacher who liked him.
Q 28In Save Me a Seat, what does Ravi call Joe after the two bump heads over spilled school supplies?
Big Foot
Big Foot is Ravi's insult after Joe, who was only trying to help, also steps on his name card. It makes Dillon laugh.
Q 29In Save Me a Seat, which social studies term does Ravi define with a meaning from science class?
Assimilate
Assimilate has a biology meaning that Ravi recites from memory, but Mrs. Beam says it does not fit the context. A dictionary later shows him that both meanings exist.
Q 30In Save Me a Seat, which babyish book is Ravi handed along with headphones in the resource room?
Fun with Phonics
Fun with Phonics insults a boy who was first in his class in India, so Ravi turns the volume down and eavesdrops on Joe instead.