Overview

• The qualifying test takes place in person at Central Rivers Area Education Agency’s (CRAEA) Marshalltown office on April 23, 2025.

• The day will begin at 9:00 a.m. and go until 2:30 p.m.

• Lunch will last for about an hour. Because we are on a tight schedule and will enjoy the guest author's keynote during this time, we request that teams bring their own lunch or have food delivered for their team.  (In other words, you will not have time to go eat lunch at a restaurant. Teams should plan to stay at the AEA office.) Lunch Options in Marshalltown, IA

• The top sixteen (16) teams from the online qualifying test will compete in this event.

• Only the six readers on each team and their coach(es) will be allowed to attend the competition. Buildings who have more than one team attending need to have one adult per team at the contest.

• Coaches will serve as scorekeepers, timekeepers, and competition monitor for each competition round. Coaches will have the opportunity to learn about the various roles and sign up for the role they want to fulfill before the Grand Battle date.

• The Grand Battle will begin with teams composing a short response to a prompt about the visiting author's book. Teams will have 20 minutes to collaboratively compose this writing. We will use this written response as a tiebreaker in case it is needed at any point during the rest of the Grand Battle.

• The Grand Battle will have 3 preliminary rounds consisting of multiple choice (answers = A, B, C, D) and “in which book . . .” (answers = the title of the book) questions.  Teams will write their answers on a whiteboard and will earn one point for each correct answer.  There is no penalty for incorrect answers.

• After three rounds, the four teams with the highest scores will advance to the Final Battle.

• The Final Battle will consist of short-answer questions centering mostly on the guest author's book and some of the books from the overall competition book list.  

• Readers will buzz in using Buzzin.live. Teams will be allowed to confer together about their answer and will ring in using one shared device for the team. Each team will need to bring its own phone, tablet, or computer. If a team needs to borrow a device, please let us know ahead of time.  

Preliminary rounds

• There will be three preliminary rounds, consisting of a total of 24 questions per round.

• There will be three questions per book over the three rounds; however, the question order will be randomized over the three rounds so it is possible that there might be two (or three!) questions about the same book in the same round.

• The question format for these rounds will be split between multiple choice questions and "in which book" questions. All questions will be projected on a screen so teams can read the text as well as listen to the moderator read the question.

• Four teams meet in each one of the centers for concurrent rounds of questions.  There are four centers, so each center will host four teams competing against each other.  

• Teams will be randomly placed into their first center. At the end of the first and second preliminary rounds, all 1st place teams will meet in one room, all 2nd place teams will meet in one room, all 3rd place teams will meet in one room, and all 4th place teams will meet in one room.

• After the Quiz Master reads the question, teams will have 30 seconds to confer on their answer and write it on the team's whiteboard.  For multiple choice questions, the 30 seconds starts when the answer slide is shown. For "in which book" questions, the 30 seconds starts after the moderator finishes reading the question aloud.

• One (1) point will be awarded for each correct answer.  There is no penalty for wrong answers.

• After all three preliminary rounds are finished, each team's score across the three rounds will be totaled and the top four teams will move on to the Final Battle.

• If there is a tie at the end of the preliminary rounds, scores from the tiebreaker writing prompt will decide which team(s) go to the Final Battle.

Final Battle

• The Final Battle round consists of short-answer questions over the books from the booklist, with an emphasis on the in-common text. The competition will last for 30 minutes or 30 questions, whichever is shorter.  

• Questions will be asked in random order and worth one (1) point apiece.

• The Quiz Master asks a question, which will be projected on a screen after the question is read in full so teams can read the text after hearing the question read aloud.  

• Teams will have up to ten seconds to confer together to decide the answer to the question and buzz in.  Each team will have one device at their table to buzz in when they are ready to answer a question.  These devices should stay on the table at all times and will be monitored by a contest official sitting with each team.

• The Buzzin.Live Moderator will call on the first team to buzz in. At that time, the team spokesperson has 2 seconds to answer the question. (The Quiz Master will only consider answers given by the team's spokesperson.) If the person says the correct answer, the Quiz Master awards the team one point.  There is no penalty for wrong answers.

• If the first team who buzzed in is incorrect, the BuzzIn.Live Moderator will move to the next team who buzzed in. If that team answers correctly, the Quiz Master will move on to the next question.  If not, the BuzzIn.Live Moderator will continue to move through the teams in the order they buzzed in until one team answers correctly or until all teams all teams have had a chance to respond. Again, there is no penalty for incorrect answers.

• Teams do lose one point for buzzing in before the Quiz Master has finished the question and answering incorrectly. The question, however, is still in play, and other teams will be able to answer this question. The BuzzIn.Live Moderator and Quiz Master will follow the normal procedure for wrong answers mentioned in the previous bullet point.

• If a team disagrees with an answer that is judged incorrect, they may appeal the decision;  however, this must be done immediately.  The quiz master will lead a discussion with all participants to determine whether the answer could be correct or not.  The decision will be made by majority vote if needed.  This process should be kept to a maximum of 2 minutes and starts once the student begins to explain their reasoning about why the answer is correct.

• If there is a tie at the end of the Final Battle round, we will use the written response team co-constructed at the beginning of the Grand Battle competition day.

Sample short-answer questions

1. In the book Dread Nation, what is the symbolism of Summerland?

Answer:  Summerland is like a new America, a "shining beacon of hope"

Alternate Answer:  vision of the future

2. In the book This Is My Brain in Love, what theme is reiterated by the recurring words in all the chapter titles?

Answer:  mental health