Until the end of the book, when he tries to shake it one last time for fun, accidentally drops it, and while searching for it finds the Easter Egg with the diamond ring in it. The 8-Ball eventually breaks and Greg stops using it. A more reasonable person has to point out that the 8-Ball is just a toy. He gets in trouble when he uses it during a test and the teacher accuses him of bringing a cheating device. It gives surprisingly accurate answers and good advice whenever he consults it.
In Harry Turtledove's The Valley-Westside War, it is strongly implied that the Valley's king consults one of these to decide whether to go to war with the Westside and ultimately chooses to do so.They don't always get an answer, but assume that Quay must be busy with someone else's totem, and will happily keep shaking the thing until they get a response. In George Alec Effinger's short story "The Great God Quay" from the Star Wars anthology Tales from Jabba's Palace, the Weequay all carry totems resembling the Magic 8-Ball, and firmly believe that their god Quay can communicate with them through it.Eventually, Jonathan's nephew Lewis is able to get the 8-Ball to display the message "COAL BIN." (Like any magical object, the 8-Ball only works for its owner).
Zimmerman both try to use the 8-Ball without success. In the John Bellairs novel The House With a Clock in Its Walls, the protagonists use a Magic 8-Ball to find the eponymous clock.The Spell of the Eighth Sphere in The Legends of Ethshar series: A literally magical 8-Ball.The mallomar (its version of the palantÃr) acts like one of these, including giving the answer "Reply Hazy, Ask Again Later". The Lord of the Rings parody Bored of the Rings.