Battle of the Books: Teams face off in literary competition
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EUGENE, Ore. -- Elementary school kids from all over Lane County competed in an intense literary competition in Eugene on Saturday.
As fourth-grader Izzy McNall demonstrated, the details these kids remembered from their 16 assigned books is impressive.
“It is hard to answer questions in just 15 seconds because there is a lot of possibilities for what it could be,” said McNall.
With 52 teams made up of more than 200 total competitors, the battle over literary facts was immense.
Each team of third, fourth and fifth-graders had about four members, working together to answer questions about 16 books that each competing team read.
During each round the moderator will ask questions about what book something came from or specific details about one of the listed 16 books.
Tournament director Eileen Nittler said it takes weeks of reading and practice to remember facts, like what a certain character was wearing or in what book an event happened.
“It is tough, we are really asking a lot of these kids to read and re-read and really learn the content and the specifics of each of these books,” said Nittler.
Competitor Ahnwyn Bowden said that teamwork is the key to this type of competition.
“We try to come up with different ideas and we can reject some and we try to bounce off each other and once our 15 seconds is up we have to say something and if we don't than it just goes to the next team,” said Bowden.
During the intense game each correct answer gets the team five points towards victory.
The kids say the competition is fun but it is something they sacrifice for.
“I am not exactly sure if I’m going to do it next year. I miss having second recess and spending time with my friends at lunch,” said McNall.
After the five-hour tournament ended, the top three teams were selected to advance to the state competition held in April.
