Battle of the Books: Students kick off year of club reading for competition

Laughter echoes through the library as students flip through pages, quiz each other on plot twists and race to remember which character saved the day. Battle of the Books is a club that combines reading with competition.

The club involves students meeting new people, forming teams and preparing for competitions using knowledge and memory. Participants practice throughout the year to compete against other schools in April. The team meets every Friday in the library during Tiger Time.

Student Zoe Baker said, “I think people should join because it’s a lot of fun,” she said. “You end up reading books you never knew existed.”

Battle of the Books is designed to encourage reading and teamwork. Students are assigned a list of 25 books, 15 being Iowa choice awards, at the start of the year and work together to remember details, characters and plot points. Only 15 teams will make it to the grand battle. During competitions, teams answer questions about the books to test their knowledge and recall.

Battle of the Books isn’t just reading and competition though. They have holiday parties together, do activities and become good friends. This is the club’s sixth year at the high school with coach Abigail Hendrickson. Hendrickson has been coaching for 11 years now. 

“I think Battle of the Books is a great group for kids who read or want to read more,” Hendrickson said. “Kids who aren’t connecting well at school can find belonging here.” 

The club is open to students in grades 10 through 12. The book list changes annually and features various genres, including romance, mystery, fantasy, etc. Students interested in joining can contact club leader Abigail.Hendrickson@cfschools.org for more information or can simply show up.