Kids Use Their Reading Power at Annual Battle of the Books

After months of reading books like Diamond Willow by Helen Frost and Candy Bomber by Michael Tunnell, fifth-grade students from finally tested their knowledge of the material on Saturday during the Battle of the Books.

The competition was held in the gym at and drew about 200 participating kids, many dressed in costume, to compete for first place. The group of fifth-grade students were asked 50 questions about the 15 books that were part of the battle, and teams had 30 seconds to identify the book that that quote or event occurred in. 

Teams were made up of three to five students and many groups chose to split the reading responsibilities.

"We attempt to give a real variety of books for the kids to choose from, so hopefully they will find at least one that will resonate with them," said Linda Pannuto, youth librarian at Orion Township Public Library.

The winners were announced at Tuesday's awards ceremony. Author Helen Frost attended the ceremony and signed books afterwards to students.

The Word Nerds, who only missed one question, received first place and will now have a special place in the children's section of the library. A plaque with their names will hang next to a series of other plaques representing teams that have won the battle previously.

The Word Nerds team was made up of fifth-grade students Jessie and Simon Tomazic, Anna Santini, William Junkin and Nadine Heilman from .

"It's a whole lot of fun and kids remember it for years. It's a great program," Pannuto said.

Joe Johnson of Orion Neighborhood Television submitted this video footage.