Battle of the Books

Linton Elementary School's Battle of the Books is not to be taken lightly. Kids start forming teams in early November. They seek out the best and brightest for their teams (best friends too, of course). Then they start looking for a coach. I was lucky enough to be asked to coach Mark's team. Mara wanted me to coach her team too, and I was willing to try to do two, but another mom stepped in. We started our Thursday lunch meetings at the end of November. The kids had eight books to read before the beginning of February. We planned, we strategized, we quizzed, we memorized. It was great! Mark's team was the "Rapid Readers." Mara's was "The Four-leaf Clovers." They didn't compete against each other, each grade had different books.

Mara got to be an emcee. She welcomed everyone and explained what was going on.

I am a judge here. These kids did pretty well, but in the end they had a couple of brain blocks and didn't get to go on to the finals.

Michael and Mark are getting excited for their turn!

You can't believe the tension! The girls team appeared to take an early lead with no mistakes. But amazingly, by the fifth question they started to crumble under pressure and the boys saw their chance!

Mark is ready! But so is Amelia. . . .

Happy Day! In a surprise finish, the Rapid Readers pull through with a correct answer that none of the other teams had. They get to go to the finals!!! Sadly, another team of girls, "the Campfire Girls" beat them by one question the next day. A couple of the little guys were trying hard to fight back tears. I was so proud of them though! They are a great team and I hope they do it again next year.