After months of tireless reading and intense practice, the Canton Middle School Battle of the Books team emerged victorious at the 2015 Haywood County Schools middle school competition on February 25th. Waynesville Middle School and Bethel Middle School also competed in the nine-round contest, in which each school took on the other head-to-head three times.

It was the first time in well over ten years that a Canton Middle team has won the county championship for Battle of the Books.

“I felt excited because Canton Middle hadn’t won in a long time,” said Zach Mull, a 7th grader at CMS and a member of the team, which they affectionately call “BOB”. Gracie Woods, an 8th grader, added, “It was amazing! To know we had come and done what we were there for, it felt so great.”

Battle of the Books is a statewide competition sponsored by the North Carolina School Library Media Association. It is a team-based, quiz bowl styled contest in which a group of up to six students at a time work together to answer questions pulled from a list of books that has been specially chosen for that year’s competition. School teams compete against one another in their own districts, with one winner from each advancing to a regional contest. Those winners then advance to the state-level championship competition.

Canton Middle School, like the rest of the teams in the state, got its first look at the books for this year’s test last spring when the 2014-15 list was released by the NCSLMA. At that point the library went about acquiring a sufficient number of copies for each title so that interested students could share them around and start reading.

The titles covered a wide array of genres and interests, from The Notorious Benedict Arnold, by Steve Sheinkin, and 90 Miles to Havana, by Enrique Flores-Galbis, to The Maze Runner, by James Dashner, and The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan. In all, students were required to read and answer questions about twenty seven different books.

For some students getting through the list was a challenge. “Sometimes it was really tough to stay focused on the BOB books and not reading other ones,” said Amy Hunt, a 7th grader. Jeremiah Turbyfill, an 8th grader, agreed. “The hardest part was reading all the books.”

The preparation for the competition began in earnest at the beginning of this school year, though, with the students reading through a set portion of the books every month and passing comprehension tests on them. Then the real challenge began: practice competitions after school.

“The boys versus girls practices were the best,” said 8th grader Zoelle Rivera.

At practices the students squared off in teams and competed against one another for bragging rights, candy rewards, and the chance to prove their overall competitive quality as the year went on. What began as a large group of interested students steadily narrowed itself down through a series of competitive practices, until finally nine students remained. These were the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who had remained committed to finishing each month’s reading list, passing the required quizzes, and getting involved in the practice sessions.

For Cole Allen, it was the practice competitions that gave him the greatest challenge. However, he said, “The best part about being in BOB was that we weren’t always so serious and we had a lot of fun.”

Finally, on the day of the competition, both Waynesville and Bethel Middle Schools proved to be stout adversaries, with their teams often matching Canton Middle question-for-question with correct answers. After a very tense and exciting couple of hours, Waynesville and Canton Middle finished the regular rounds all tied up. After two intense rounds of overtime between the two schools, Canton Middle finally pulled ahead for good and claimed the victory.

In the midst of the competition things certainly got tense for the students. For Trevor Westor, a 6th grader, “It was really nerve-wracking, especially during the overtime. I was so nervous to do my very best!” For 7th grader Anna Wood, however, “It was thrilling. The tension made it more challenging, and it was fun to work as a team.”

For 8th grader Patrick Trantham, it wasn’t just about the books or the competition; he enjoyed the new bonds of friendship that he formed with his teammates. “Being able to connect to people who love to read,” he said, “is a lot of fun.”

Canton Middle School will now go on to compete at the regional Battle of the Books competition in Asheville on April 22nd.

Submitted by William Hunt, Canton Middle School