Library Announces Battle of the Books Winners

The Racine Public Library, 75 Seventh St., honored the winners of its tenth annual "Battle of the Books" tournament at a special event on Friday, April 23 in the library's Youth Services Dept.

This year's top scoring team was The Bombers from St. Lucy School with a score of 88 out of a possible 90 points. Team members were Emily Diehn, Lorenc Gasparov, Michael Orth, and Emma Suchla. As the champions, the team's name was engraved on the Battle of the Books Champion Plaque and each received a trophy and award certificate.

The Battle of the Books is a literature contest for fourth and fifth grade students from the Racine area. Over 120 teams, representing 25 area public and private schools, participated in the Battle of the Books over a four-week period. Teams were composed of up to four students, with over 450 students participating.

In preparing for the tournament, the participants were asked to read and become knowledgeable about the content of 40 books selected for the Battle by youth services librarians. Meets were held at the Racine Public Library with 4-5 teams competing at a time. In a public forum, team members were asked random questions about the books they read and accumulated points based on the number of right answers. The team with the highest score among all participating teams was declared the champion.

Seven more top-scoring teams were placed in the "Winners' Circle" and invited to attend the awards ceremony. In second place with a score of 87 points was the Wind Point School Readers with team members Alicia Espinoza, Samantha Jensen, Shelby Kisting, and Kijung Kwak scoring 87 points All teams scored 108 points.

Tying for third place with scores of 84 points were The Prairie School Reading Rampage with team members Francesca Bontempo, Kate Munro, and Emma Schatz; Racine Montessori school Da Flamez with team members Zachariah Bradley, Alec Buhler, Maxie Collen, and Ricky Granger; the St. Lucy School Spartans with team members amanda Bergevian, David Louison, Teddy May, and Nicole Meisner; the St. Rita School Readers of the Night with team members Brandon Dobrowski, Megan Cisewski, Laura Panthofer, and Adam Schuls; the 21st Century Prep Book Worms with team members emily bollendorf, Sarah Busey, Emma Graves, and Isabella Huizar; and the Wind Point School Book Dreamers with team members Imunique Dawkins, Ryan Shea, Anna Thompson, and Mya Williams. All Winners' Circle participants received commemorative medals and award certificates.

The following ten teams were recognized for their strong showing with scores of over 80 points. Receiving Honorable Mention ribbons and certificates were the Gifford School "Gifford Guys", the John Paul II Academy Reading Machines, and the St. Lucy School Know-It-Alls.

For more information about Battle of the Books, contact the Racine Public Library at 262.636.9245.