Battle of the Books

What is it?

Students (grades 3-6) who read and earn buttons for at least five books from their list by the end of January may choose to join a team of three or four students. They will review the books together as a team and prepare for a "quiz bowl" style competition about the books (Battle of the Books) which will take place at the schools in March.

What are the competitions like?

Often described as "Family Feud" style, two teams face off taking turns answering questions. Teams receive questions in turns and have 20 seconds to respond. If a team answers their question correctly, they earn five points. If they do not, the other team has the opportunity to "steal." If they correctly answer the stolen question within ten seconds, they earn three points. Whether the first team answers correctly or not, the next question goes to the other team. This continues for 24 total questions (one "round"). The team with the highest score wins the round. For reference, see the Score Card below.

The number of rounds at the school competitions depends on the number of teams competing. After all of the rounds, the team with the highest average points per round wins. The winning team at each school will earn a prize (t-shirt and book). Every school will receive the same questions for their school-level battle.

The overall top six scoring 5th-6th teams will face off at the District Battle of the Books in April. Six teams will play five rounds, rotating so that each team faces off. The team with the highest number of points for all five rounds wins the battle. All participants will receive a certificate and a book. The top three teams will also win medals and prize packages. The school represented by the winning team will take the traveling trophy back to their library to display for the next school year.

• • Round 1: A vs. B C vs. D E vs. F

  • Round 2: A vs. C E vs. D F vs. B

  • Round 3: A vs. E B vs. C D vs. F

  • Round 4: A vs. D B vs. E C vs. F

  • Round 5: A vs. F B vs. D C vs. E

What will the questions be like?

The questions in the battle will be basic questions about characters, setting, plot, and theme. About 20% of the questions in each round will be "easy," 20% will be "hard," and 60% will be "average."

The answer will always be the title and the author of the book (last name of the author is sufficient).

For example, the question might ask, “In what book does the main character live in a cupboard under the stairs?” The answer would be Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by Rowling. (That would be considered an "average" difficulty question, by the way. In which book does a boy learn to play Quidditch? would be "easy"; In which book does the main character receive fudge and a hand-knit sweater for Christmas? would be "hard.")

To earn points, the team must get the title AND author's last name exactly correct. The same applies to "steals." There are no points for partially correct or close answers. Pronunciations that do not add or leave out letters or syllables are sufficient, but the Accepted Answers form below can help you pronounce the name as the author him or herself does.