Book battles make reading competitive
Bonner County Daily Bee | UPDATED 5 years, 8 months AGO
Members of the SMS Book Battle team, “Nerds” pose for a photo. Pictured are Aidan Terry, Daniel Ricks, Noah Darrin and Kaden Brady.
(Courtesy photo)
Members of the SMS Battle of the Books team, “Page Burners,” pose for a photo. Pictured, from left, are Elizabeth Craven, Sylvia Becker, Calie Bailey, Peyton Guercio and Terra Converse.
(Courtesy photo)
Members of the Sandpoint Middle School Battle of the Books team “Things” pose for a photo. Pictured are Calvin Williams, Ethan Bowen, Christian Amador and Via Vachon.
(Courtesy photo)
Do you take your reading seriously? Do you have a passion for books? Have you ever wished reading was a sport?
Well, for 13 Sandpoint Middle School students those three questions describe Idaho Battle of the Books, Kelly Curtiss, Sandpoint Middle School librarian, said.
Idaho Battle of the Books is a statewide program which originated in the Boise Area in 2017.
This was the second year of IBOB at Sandpoint Middle School, Curtiss said. Students read 16 books and then compete in teams of four or five to correctly answer questions based on the books in a “quiz show” format. The three SMS teams met weekly to prepare for the competitions.
“Many of these students read all 16 titles,” Curtiss said.
While SMS teams had a chance to compete against each other in several grueling schoolwide battles, she said that, like so many other spring sports this year, the regional competition with Sandpoint, Timberlake, Coeur d’Alene and Wallace was cancelled due to COVID-19. Curtis said that SMS will continue IBOB with new teams next school year.
Information: idahobattleofthebooks.org
