City-wide Battle of the Books begins tomorrow

Over the next three days, middle school students from across the city will face off in an educational battle, testing their literary knowledge against their peers.

Cherokee Heights Librarian, Laura Holt, said that the students have been preparing for the competition since mid-November, reading from a suggested list of books, including titles by Roald Dahl, Phillip Pullman, Mark Twain, and Jon Krakauer.

Students competing in this week’s events have already won their school-level Battles. Battle of the Books champions will be awarded a medal and a traveling trophy.   

The competition challenges students to read carefully, learn about literature, and explore genres they might not try on their own. Teams of readers will be put to the test as they work to answer trivia questions about the books’ content.

“We do really stress that we want it to be a fun activity for them,” said Holt.

Holt said the competition lets students be in the company of others who enjoy reading. 

The Battles will be held at the following location: 

6^th grade: Tuesday, March 6; 2 p.m. at O’Keeffe Middle School (6^th grade reading list [1])
7^th grade: Wednesday, March 7; 2 p.m. at Hamilton Middle School (7^th grade reading list [2])
8^th grade: Thursday, March 8; 2 p.m. at Cherokee Middle School (8^th grade reading list [3])