The Lottery Rose
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40 free The Lottery Rose trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The Lottery Rose is one of the saddest and best-loved novels on school reading lists. It follows Georgie Burgess, a small boy who has known only cruelty at home and who pours all his hope into a rosebush he wins by chance. When he is finally taken somewhere safe, the bush goes with him, and finding the right place to plant it becomes the story of how he learns to trust people again. This quiz covers the whole book: Georgie's life before the lottery, his new school and the grieving family nearby, the quarrel over a garden, the friendships that follow and the ending that leaves most readers in tears. A few questions step outside the story to the writer, her other books and how the novel was received. It is written for students who have finished the novel and want to check what they remember, for teachers and parents looking for discussion starters, and for anyone returning to a book that stayed with them. Every answer comes with a short explanation.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In The Lottery Rose, where does Georgie Burgess win the small rosebush he comes to treasure?
A grocery store
A grocery store runs the lottery, and Georgie feels sure he will win before the drawing even happens. He lavishes on the little bush the care nobody has ever shown him.
Q 02Which Gulf Coast city in Florida is Georgie Burgess's home at the start of The Lottery Rose?
Tampa
Tampa is where Georgie lives with his mother, keeping the abuse he suffers at home a secret. He is always in trouble at school there and has never learned to read.
Q 03In The Lottery Rose, which Wonderland character does Georgie play when another boy drops out of the skit?
The Mad Hatter
The Mad Hatter is the part Georgie takes, in the tea party scene with Mrs. Harper as Alice. Acting opposite her in character lets him face her at last.
Q 04In The Lottery Rose, which relative of little Robin helps Georgie Burgess finally learn to read?
His grandfather
His grandfather, Mr. Collier, brings books to Georgie's sickbed and reads them aloud. Georgie admits he never learned because nobody had offered him a book he found interesting.
Q 05At the end of The Lottery Rose, where does Georgie Burgess finally choose to plant his rosebush for good?
On Robin's grave
On Robin's grave is where Georgie decides the bush belongs, rather than in the garden he fought so hard to reach. The choice at last brings him and Mrs. Harper together.
Q 06In The Lottery Rose, what does a furious Mrs. Harper threaten to do if Georgie replants his rosebush?
Burn it
Burn it is her threat, shouted after she finds her late husband's plantings trampled. The words stay with Georgie so long that he refuses to see her even after she relents.
Q 07In The Lottery Rose, what tragedy took Mrs. Harper's husband and elder son shortly before Georgie arrives?
A car accident
A car accident killed them both, which is why she keeps her distance from the schoolboys. Being near boys her lost son's age is too painful for her.
Q 08Which Newbery Medal-winning author wrote The Lottery Rose, the story of an abused boy and his rosebush?
Irene Hunt
Irene Hunt published the novel in 1976. It was a change of pace for a writer known best for historical fiction.
Q 09In The Lottery Rose, which birds does Georgie help Robin, Mrs. Harper's younger son, to feed?
Ducks
Ducks are what Georgie takes Robin down to feed. Georgie becomes like a big brother to Robin, who has severe cognitive impairments.
Q 10In The Lottery Rose, how does little Robin die after slipping away from the woman minding him?
He drowns in a pond
He drowns in a pond after wandering down to the water alone, on a day Georgie is not there to take him. The loss draws Georgie and Mrs. Harper together in shared grief.
Q 11In The Lottery Rose, what had Mrs. Harper's late husband planted for her that Georgie crushes by mistake?
Lilies
Lilies were meant as her husband's surprise for her, so the damage cuts deep. Georgie only notices the crushed bulbs when he returns to replant his bush.
Q 12In The Lottery Rose, what does Mrs. Harper glimpse on Georgie that softens her anger over the garden?
Wounds on his back
Wounds on his back, left by the beatings and now infected, show through his torn shirt. Moments later he collapses, and she begins visiting his sickbed.
Q 13In The Lottery Rose, which principal tries to talk Georgie out of planting his rosebush in a neighbor's garden?
Sister Mary Angela
Q 21In The Lottery Rose, how does Georgie first get his rosebush into Mrs. Harper's garden?
He sneaks out at night
He sneaks out at night and plants it in secret, after everyone has told him the garden is off limits. By morning she has ripped the bush out and marched to the school to complain.
Q 22In The Lottery Rose, what does Georgie try to teach Robin, who has severe cognitive impairments?
To speak
To speak is the goal Georgie sets for his young friend. One chapter is told from Robin's own point of view, recalling how his late brother also pushed him to try.
Q 23In The Lottery Rose, what is Amanda, the woman meant to be minding Robin, doing when he wanders off?
Sleeping on a bench
Sister Mary Angela runs the boys' school with a kind hand. She offers Georgie a special spot at the front of the school instead, which he has no intention of using.
Q 14In The Lottery Rose, which schoolmate, nicknamed the principal's public relations boy, befriends Georgie?
Timothy
Timothy is the one who explains why the school's neighbor is so sad. He also brings Georgie the gossip from the play rehearsals.
Q 15In The Lottery Rose, which worker at Mrs. Harper's home takes Georgie on as an apprentice?
The gardener
The gardener, Old Eddie, is cool toward Georgie at first. He warms up once the boy proves how much he loves the work, and Georgie starts copying his mannerisms.
Q 16In The Lottery Rose, what rare musical gift does Georgie Burgess turn out to have at his new school?
Perfect pitch
Perfect pitch turns up when the principal auditions boys for the choir, and Georgie is proud to find he sings well. Mrs. Harper later brings Robin to the chapel to listen.
Q 17Which author wrote Alice in Wonderland, the story Georgie's school stages a scene from in The Lottery Rose?
Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll published the tale in 1865. In the novel its tea party scene is Mrs. Harper's favorite, and she plays Alice herself.
Q 18In The Lottery Rose, which woman who handed Georgie his lottery ticket takes him in after the beating?
Mrs. Sims
Mrs. Sims and her husband take Georgie in as a foster son until a lasting place is found for him and his unplanted rosebush.
Q 19In The Lottery Rose, what makes Georgie collapse unconscious during his garden showdown with Mrs. Harper?
A fever
A fever leaves Georgie delirious. Mrs. Harper visits often while he is ill, yet once he recovers he refuses to see her.
Q 20Which theme runs through The Lottery Rose, as Georgie long refuses even to see Mrs. Harper after her threat?
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is the heart of the story. Betrayed by his own mother, Georgie comes to see all mothers as alike, and must learn to trust one who is truly sorry.
Sleeping on a bench, Amanda never sees him slip out of the garden alone. Georgie, who usually goes with him, is not there that day.
Q 24In The Lottery Rose, what fills the library book Georgie keeps borrowing though he cannot read a word?
Pictures of flowers
Pictures of flowers make the book his refuge. The school librarian lets him check it out again, though pupils may keep a book for only two weeks at a time.
Q 25After the beating in The Lottery Rose, where must the janitor rescue Georgie's rosebush from?
The garbage
The garbage is where the bush has ended up. Reunited with it, Georgie presses his face into it without even noticing the thorns.
Q 26In The Lottery Rose, who is caring for Georgie when he comes round after the worst beating?
A nurse
A nurse is dressing his leg and a deep cut in his scalp. A young police officer waits nearby, but Georgie is too frightened to name his attacker.
Q 27In The Lottery Rose, who decides that a school for boys will help Georgie adjust after he leaves home?
A judge
A judge makes the call, working with Georgie's social worker. Georgie himself worries more about finding a home for his rosebush than about one for himself.
Q 28In The Lottery Rose, what does Georgie do with his ticket's numbers because he feels certain of winning?
Memorizes them
Memorizes them, every one, so sure is he that a prize is coming. His only fear is that whatever he wins will be taken away or destroyed at home.
Q 29In The Lottery Rose, whose savage beating leads police to remove Georgie Burgess from his home?
His mother's boyfriend
His mother's boyfriend beats him so badly that someone in the building finally calls the police. His mother, who drinks heavily, does little to stop it.
Q 30For which coming-of-age novel did the author of The Lottery Rose win the Newbery Medal?
Up a Road Slowly
Up a Road Slowly took the 1967 medal. It follows a girl named Julie from seven to seventeen as she grows up with her aunt in the country.