Six Trinity fifth graders participated in the Battle of the Books at Immanuel Macomb on April 25. While Trinity Utica's Book Star Children came out on top, our students' participation was also an accomplishment. Trinity's two teams, The Page Turners and the Chapter Champions, both said they wished the competition was open to students beyond fifth grade.
The students began preparing for the Battle of the Books before Christmas. The teams had to read a total of 12 books, but the teammates split them up, each reading four books. The students had to read:
- Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
- The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
- Squished by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter
- George the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
- Loyalty by Avi
- Nerd Camp by Elissa Brent Weissman
- The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
- The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day
- Love that Dog by Sharon Creech
- Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson
- A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen
- Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
Each student had their favorite. Jacob P. liked "The Miracolous Journey of Edward Tulane." Levi W. enjoyed reading "Squish." Abby C. said she liked "A Night Divided." Calvin K. and Brent R. liked "George and the Overlander." Connor C. liked "Loyalty."
Levi W. explained that the teammates each read four of the books and knew the details to help the team answer questions. He said they were asked questions, so which they had to not only name the book, but the author as well. They teams had 30 seconds to answer each question.
"Some of the questions were really hard," said Abby C. She said the group wrote answers on a white board to be scored. The team received 1 point for knowing the author and title. If there was a tie, the correct spelling of the title and author would be used to determine a winner.
Brent R. said the teams practiced once every two weeks under the supervision of Levi's mom and Connor's mom. The day of the competition, they were two of 28 teams from nine Lutheran schools. The Chapter Champions earned 87 points while the Page Turners had 78 points in the competition.
"It was so much fun," said Levi W.
"It was also nervewracking," said Abby C. The students had to answer the questions without the help of the books or notes.
Despite the challenges of the competition, Brent R. wrapped up his comments about the event with, "It was a blast."
Battle of the Books 2025
