By Joshua Koch
Public Communications
The Fantastic 4, the Book Baristas, Grim Readers, Purple Penguins and the Bookaneers were just some of the teams that filled Atascocita High School’s gymnasium on Saturday, April 6, for the annual Battle of the Books.
The competition, which is for 4th through 8th graders, is broken into two categories of elementary school teams and middle school teams that “Battle” for three rounds to get to an ultimate showdown for the top prize. The students involved are required to read the 12 books that are selected for the competition and answer questions based on those to win the Battle of the Books.
Elementary school teams go through four rounds: Match the Author, In Which Book (40 questions), Short Answer (24 questions) and finally a two-team 12-question championship showdown.
Middle School teams go through three rounds: In Which Book (40 questions), Short Answer (24 questions) and finally a two-team 12-question championship showdown.
SStudents from Humble Elementary and Foster Elementary battle it out in the final round of the Elementary portion of the 2024 Battle of the Books competition on Saturday, April 6, 2024 at Atascocita High School.
After rounds of fierce competition, the champions were crowned:
Humble Elementary’s Wildcat Warriors won the Elementary Battle of the Books Championship, while Foster Elementary’s The Fantastic 4 finished as the runners-up.
Riverwood Middle School’s Secret Readers took home the Middle School Battle of the Books Championship, while Woodcreek Middle School’s Black Thunder claimed the runner-up trophy.
The championship winning team members for elementary and middle school divisions each received an Android tablet and cover, courtesy of Community Resource Credit Union.
The top winning team’s school libraries received: $150 in books from Follett, next year’s Battle of the Books selections by Perma-Bound and $150 in digital books donated by Sora. Barnes & Noble provided gift cards to top winning teams as well. Humble ISD School Board President Robert Scarfo also provided gift cards for the winning teams.
Additional prizes were awarded to teams in each category for best dressed, team spirit, best poster, best team name and best sportsmanship. They received books and gift cards for winning these categories courtesy of Community Resource Credit Union.
Elementary:
Best Dressed - Shadow Forest Elementary: Trevelino Troupe
Best Team Spirit - Fall Creek Elementary: BOOKS! (Banana, Orange, Olive, Kiwi, Strawberry and Grape)
Best Poster - Greentree Elementary: Bookshelf Bats
Best Team Name - Oak Forest Elementary: Book Baristas
Middle School:
Best Dressed - Riverwood Middle School: Reading is NOT a Phase
Best Team Spirit - Kingwood Middle School: Readers in Shining Tutus Who ASKALOTLQuestions
Best Sportsmanship - Humble Middle School: Epic Explorers
Best Team Name - Woodcreek Middle School: Grim Readers
Smart Financial Credit Union provided visits by local authors Varsha Bajaj and Saadia Faruqi for the event.