• Teams may not consist of more than six students. Teams may have no fewer than two members.

• Coaches may coach more than one team.

• Each team needs its own unique team name.

• Each team must submit a registration form. The registration cost is $100.00 per team. 

• If extenuating  circumstances occur that do not allow you to register before February 28, 2025,  the registration cost will increase by $65.00 per team and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the planning team.  It's possible you may not be able to participate if you miss the deadline.

• Buildings may register MORE THAN ONE TEAM. If you have more than six students who'd like to compete, create another team and register them for your building.

• Registration links are available through the "Elementary Information" and "Middle School Information" tabs of this website.

• Book lists are available through the "Elementary Information" and "Middle School Information" tabs of this website. Please look there first before reaching out with questions.

• Coaches are responsible for monitoring the progress of their team and for encouraging each member to read the books. Consider meeting over the students’ lunch hour, after school, or during a study time. Use creativity and make it fun! Work with students on strategies: Who will read which books and when? What will you study and how will you study? How will you strengthen your memory? How will you build teamwork?

• Encourage parental support and interest by sending home the book list, a letter of introduction explaining the coach’s role, and plans for future meetings.

• The most important role of the team coach is to encourage reading for enjoyment!  Your good example and support are essential for the smooth operation of the BoB program. 

Where do the books come from?

Central Rivers Area Education Agency's purpose in hosting this competition is to provide students 1) the opportunity to read high-quality, high-interest, diverse texts and 2) access to an award-winning author they can learn from and interact with. With these goals in mind, and based on past coach and student reader feedback, the planning team uses books from the Iowa Children's Choice Award list and Iowa Teen Award list.  

Central Rivers Area Education Agency BoB relies on the expertise, knowledge, and experience of our Iowa Association of School Librarians (IASL) colleagues on the award committees.  Further, the books that receive these awards are nominated by students across the state of Iowa.  It is because of this nomination and selection process that we do not alter or vet the lists for our competition. 

We know that some of the books on the middle school list are of a more mature theme and contain language that might not suit all readers. Coaches always have the authority to select which students might read particular books and/or which books their teams might not read. The BOB planning team, however, will not censor books from the book lists the IASL creates.

You can learn more about the book lists on the "Awards" page of the Iowa Association of School Librarians website.

When will I have access to practice questions?

ONE practice test will be sent electronically to coaches of registered teams by March 4.  

How do I decide the final six students who will compete in the regional event?

Many coaches use the practice test sent out in March to identify the final six students competing as building team members. 

Can my alternate participate in the competition?

Six students may compete.  If you have an alternate, they may not be present during the Qualifying Round testing or Grand Battle competition. They are welcome to Zoom into the author's presentation on the Grand Battle day from their school building.

What happens on the day of the event?

The Grand Battle is made up of two competition rounds: The Preliminary Round and the Final Round.

The Preliminary Round is first up that day, with the top sixteen (16) teams competing. (These are the sixteen teams who scored highest on the Qualifying Round done online as a team in your building.) This round will consist of multiple choice and "in which book . . ." questions over all of the books except the guest author's text.  All teams have 30 seconds to answer the question posed to them, which will also be projected on the screen. They may confer before they write down their answer on the white board their team is given. All teams who have the correct answer will earn a point. There are no penalties for wrong answers.

The Final Round is the latter competition that day. The top four teams from the Preliminary Round compete in this. This round will consist of short answer questions about the guest author's book. Teams will use one device to ring in. We'll use BuzzIn.Live to see which team gets to answer first. If the team answers the question correctly, it earns a point, and we'll move on to the next question. If they answer incorrectly, we'll go back to BuzzIn.Live to see who gets to answer next, and we'll allow that team to answer. We'll "rinse and repeat" until we get a correct answer or each team has answered incorrectly. There are no penalties for wrong answers except if a team buzzes in before the entire question has been asked and their answer is wrong. If that happens, the team loses a point, but the question is still in play for other teams to answer.

While teams are competing, they may not have any other electronic devices near or on them. They may not use books or notes of any kind. They may not use scratch paper. Their coach may not sit with them during competition either.

Tentative Schedule:

Welcome: 9:00-9:15 a.m. CDT

Preliminary Round: 9:15-10:30 a.m. CDT

Break: 10:30-10:40a.m. CDT

Announcements/Acknowledgements: 10:40-10:50 a.m. CDT

Author Presentation: 10:50 a.m.-11:35 a.m. CDT

Announce Final Round Teams: 11:35-11:40 a.m. CDT

Final Round: 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. CDT

Winning Team Author Zoom: 12:20-12:35 p.m. CDT

What is the definition of "building" under BOB? Which grades compete in the elementary competition and which grades are middle school?

Generally, we think of elementary BoB teams as consisting of 3rd-5th grade readers and middle school teams consisting of  6th-8th grade readers. However, we know this doesn't fit the breakdown of every building in every district, so we intentionally allow for flexibility. If 6th grade is part of your elementary building, you may have them as part of your elementary team; if 5th grade is in your middle school, you may have them as part of your middle school team. 

• We also want to allow for flexibility for coaches who want to adhere a bit more strongly to the grade spans recommended for the content of the books, regardless of which building the student is in.  It is permissible for an elementary team to include the 5th graders even if those students are at the middle school or include 6th-grade students on the middle school team even if those readers receive instruction at an elementary building.

• However, we really want teams to represent the buildings that they "reside in/come from.” Our strong recommendation is that you represent the span of grade levels on the elementary/middle school team with students who receive instruction in that building -- not just students from the upper-grade levels, regardless of which building those readers are in. For example, we feel it would be inappropriate for an elementary team to consist of only 6th-grade students.

• The middle school Battle of the Books is intended for 6th through 8th-grade students. If your middle school/junior high consists of 9th graders, those 9th graders should join the Iowa High School Battle of the Books.

Again, we know that some of the books on the middle school list contain more mature themes and language that might not suit all readers, so our recommendation is that student teams stick to those grade spans denoted on the BoB website. Remember, coaches always have the authority to select which students might read particular books and/or which books their teams might not read. Coaches know best the needs of their readers, building, district, and/or community.

What if my building wants to bring more than one team?

You may register an unlimited number of teams. 

Central Rivers Area Education Agency Battle of the Books Media Releases