Viewfinder: Middle School Students Battle Through Books

Northville High School was the site of a battle Wednesday night.

Instead of soldiers, there were middle school students. And instead of weapons they battled each other with knowledge from books.

Welcome to Battle of the Books.

The Northville District Library sponsored the fifth-annual event. Forty-eight teams – with names like Sisters of Oz, Reading with the Stars, The Bookbusters and Dumbledore's Army – of students registered to compete for a variety of prizes. And attendance was at a record high this year with 227 students competing before a full house of parents and supporters.

They sat at tables in the high school cafeteria answering questions about the seven books each team had to read in order to answer quiz-bowl-like questions, scored by a panel.

The winning team, which scored 276 points, was the Story Sleuths. Members include Larry Zhao, Nick Bartschat, Michael Zhang, Valerie Zhang and Renae Nichols.

“We kinda just tried to take notes on every book vigorously,” said Larry, a sixth grader. He most enjoyed “the costumes and just being among team members and quizzing each other.”

The team’s manager, parent Anita Bartschat, said the team had a strategy going into the competition. Her son Christoph, who played in Battle of the Books years before, helped her coach the team in reading and practicing.

“I don’t want to give away all their secrets,” she joked. The team did a lot of reading over winter break. Some members of the Story Sleuths read all of the books.

Library director Julie Herrin is excited that so many students participate every year.

“This is probably the most exciting thing we do,” she said. “For the kids, I think they feel more a part of the library."