March 27, 2017
Boyce crowns Battle of the Books champs
The Rainbow Readers and Team CREAM were crowned champions in the Boyce Middle School Battle of the Books held earlier this month.
“In fifth grade, the competition ended in a three-way tie between The Rainbow Readers, The Bookworms and The F.A.M,” Boyce Librarian Ginny Husak said. “But it took only one question in the tie-breaker round for The Rainbow Readers to be victorious!”
The Rainbow Readers team is comprised of fifth graders Julia Cedar, Audra Freil, Gabbie Deep, Evelyn Hertzog, Sydney Garvey, Evie Sullivan and Alex Berakoski.
The sixth grade Team CREAM includes Ben Wasson, Sahil Bhalodia, Connor Hyatt, Keshav Narasimhan, Evan Sarkett, Ben Tucker and Daniel Wang.
“Many of this year’s sixth grade winning team members were champs last year in fifth grade as well,” Mrs. Husak said.
Organized by Mrs. Husak, the annual Battle of the Books challenges students to read five books from which they will be quizzed. This year’s titles included:
- “A Night Divided,” by Jennifer Nielsen
- “Saving Wonder,” by Mary Knight
- “Lucky Strike,” by Bobby Pyron
- “Pleasing the Ghost,” by Sharon Creech
- “I Survived the Joplin Tornado,” by Lauren Tarshis
Ultimately, the purpose of the annual Battle of the Books is to promote reading. This year’s event included more than 200 students on 57 teams that ranged in size from two to eight students.
“At this age, reading for enjoyment can begin to decrease,” Mrs. Husak said. “If I would say, ‘read these 5 books and I'll ask you some questions’ I don't think I'd have over 200 kids in the school participate.”
The key to a successful event is making sure that Battle of the Books is fun.
“The kids love the competitive nature of the event, forming teams with their friends and choosing costumes,” Mrs. Husak said. “If this competition makes one student read one extra book than he/she normally would have, it's all worth it.”
