The Souls Triumph In Battle Of The Books

Captain Clare Boyle and her teammates on The Souls — Julia Faxon, Julia Preszler, and Haley Williams — all sixth graders, answered 26 out of 30 questions correctly to win the 6th Annual Battle of the Books on Saturday, March 27, at C.H. Booth Library.

The Battle of the Books is a Jeopardy-style contest based each year on four books that teams made up of students in grades 5 through 8 must read, and from which each team must devise questions. Books selected are usually Nutmeg nominees from the previous year.

This year, nine teams read Attack of the Turtle by Drew Carlson, Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy, Jeremy Fink & the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass, and Paint the Wind by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Following elimination rounds, four teams competed in front of friends and families in the final round, with a close finish between The Souls and The Book Battlers (eighth grade students Ellen Moran, Kate Dunbar, and Aspen Kraushaar) with 25 points.

The Souls will have their names engraved on the plaque in the Young Adult area of the library, and were each awarded a $20 Borders gift card, as well as the chance to pick a book for the young adult collection that will be donated by the Friends of C.H. Booth Library.

Second place winners were each awarded a $10 Borders gift card.

Newtown residents Liz Arneth and John Renjilian served as moderators. The Battle of the Books is a collaboration between young adult librarian Margaret Brown and children’s librarian Alana Bennison.