Rules

Area-Wide Middle School Rules and Procedures

1.    Each middle school may register one team. Team preparation may be as a part of a content class or as an extracurricular activity. Schools may need to hold a semi-final building book battle to identify one team to participate in the Area-Wide Middle School Book Battle. A second option is to test individual students on questions and allow students with the highest scores to be on the book battle team.

2.   The Book Battle Committee will release questions to participating schools to use for the semi-final round or for team practice. These questions will not be the same as the actual battle questions.

3.   With the exception of the released questions, all questions written by the book battle committee are kept securely at Remington Traditional School. A few days before the competition the Remington Traditional School book battle committee librarian and teacher make the selection of the official questions for the battle.

4.   Teams may be made up of sixth, seventh, and/or eighth grade students enrolled in the registered school with a maximum of 8 students per team. There is no minimum number of participants on a team. Only 6 students will be allowed to play at any one time.

5.   Following Round 5, an announcement will be made that coaches may rotate in one or two of their team members. Substitutions at any time other than following Round 5 will only be allowed during the competition if a student becomes ill. A proctor must be notified of substitutions related to illness. During this substitution, coaches will have the opportunity to visit the players’ table to provide kind words and encouragement… obviously there should be no discussion of books, authors, or questions at this time.

6.   Team members needing to leave the table for any reason (i.e. restroom) will not be allowed to return to the table and a substitution may not be made. Exceptions to this rule may be made for health reasons but the committee must be notified in advance in accordance with #15 below.

7.   The battle will be in “trivia night” format. 

• Questions will be divided into rounds of five questions each.·       

• Questions will be read twice to all teams at the same time. Once the next question is given, prior questions will not be repeated.

• A team recorder will write the title and author on the answer sheet for that round

• All answers will be titles of books on the 2023-2024 Official Area-Wide Middle School Book Battle list

• Answer sheets will be turned in at the scorers table by a runner from each team

• Each question has the possibility of two points:

a)      One point will be awarded for each complete title exactly as it appears on the official booklist (punctuation, spelling, and capitalization excluded). Answers with any deletions will not earn a point. The only exception will be if a title begins with the word "A" or "The" the scorers will count it correct whether or not the word "A" or "The" is included. Judges will ignore additions.

b)       Another point will be awarded for each correct author exactly as it appears on the official booklist (punctuation, spelling, and capitalization excluded). A team cannot earn a point for the author’s name unless the title has been stated correctly. Author’s names with any deletions will not earn a point. Judges will ignore additions.

• Scores will be posted as soon as possible following each round

• The team with the highest score at the end of the battle will be declared the winner.

8.   In addition to regular rounds, at the end of round 4 and again at the end of round 8, a runner from each team will pick up from the scorers’ table a sealed envelope containing two copies of the trivia round questions and an answer sheet. Once all teams have a trivia round envelope and are seated, the readers will start a timer for 7 minutes and tell the teams to open the envelopes. These questions will not be read aloud. Answers to trivia questions will be short answers concerning details from the books. At the end of 7 minutes, teams must raise their answer sheet in the air, and they will be collected to be scored. Failure to raise the answer sheet up when time is called will result in a score of zero for the round. Each trivia round will be worth 10 points.

9.   Starting and ending times are approximate. Judges will have a final say as to the number of rounds and tiebreakers played.

10. In the event of a tie for first, second, or third place, additional questions will be asked to the teams involved in the tie in a sudden death format. These questions will focus on very specific details from the books. The tie breaker questions may involve an answer in number format. In that case, the team with the answer closest to the number may be declared the winner of the tiebreaker.

11. Verbal and non-verbal conferencing between team members, alternates, spectators, and/or coaches will be prohibited during the competition and may result in disqualification. Coaches will have the opportunity to visit the players’ table following round five during the substitution of players.

12.  Concerns about score, procedure, or battle questions must be submitted in writing to the judges on the Inquiry Form provided. Only team members may submit or voice an inquiry. The decision of the judges will be final.

13. The book battle committee will provide all items needed at the tables. Personal belongings including cell phones and smart watches need to be held in the bleachers by the team sponsor. No lists of book titles or authors may be held or created at the tables during the competition.

14. Media may be present at the book battle for pictures and interviews. It is the responsibility of each school and sponsor to ensure that all their participants have an appropriate media release on file within their own district or school. It is the responsibility of the sponsor to inform attending media of any participant who has an exclusion form on file. Participants and all spectators may only photograph their own team. Videotaping is not allowed. Guest photographers must check in at the registration table upon arrival.

15. It is the responsibility of team sponsors to notify the Book Battle Committee of any students or spectators who have special health or seating needs on the Team Roster Registration form.

16. Registration will begin on August 30, 2024. Registration forms will be posted on the book battle website https://sites.google.com/psdr3.org/awbb and emailed to those on our mailing list on or before that date. In order to be fully registered, the team sponsor must register the team via a Google form as well as submit payment. Team numbers will not be assigned and registration will not be final until payment is received. 

17. In addition to the 8 team members and 2 sponsors, up to 8 guests may be registered per team.

18.  A light breakfast will be provided for the 8 team members and 2 sponsors.