St. George’s hosted the annual Battle of the Books tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 14. This year was the first year in which St. George’s won and is eligible to move on in the competition.

Battle of the Books is a program in which students compete against other school teams from the Shelby County area by reading ten books and being quizzed on them. These books range from non-fiction to historical fictionーeach giving them the opportunity to be exposed to various genres. The questions are specifically focused on characters, the plot and other aspects within the book, and they get progressively harder throughout the competition.

The following list contains the books that were read this year: “The Jumbies” by Tracy Baptiste, “The War that Saved My Life” by Kimberly Brubaker-Bradley, “Chasing Secrets” by Gennifer Choldenko, “The Iron Trial” by Cassandra Clare, “Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart” by Candace Fleming, “Lost in the Sun” by Lisa Graff, Rollergirl by Victoria Jamieson, “Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” by William Kamkwamba, “Masterminds” by Gordon Korman and “Ghost” by Jason Reynolds.

Mrs. Hillery Efkeman, the program’s sponsor for the middle school and one of the school librarians, first proposed the idea that the school should participate four years ago. Since then, the group has grown larger and become more successful.

“Four years ago, I was at a school librarian meeting and they mentioned Battle of the Books, so I brought the idea back. At the time, Mrs. Hoppe was the middle school director and said that it sounded like a great idea, so we formed a team,” Mrs. Efkeman said. “It’s kind of extra work because the students have to read ten more books, and the more books you read, the more likely you are to know the answer to the question. We usually have about 12 to 15 middle schoolers participate. This is the first time that we have actually won and moved on in the competition, so I’m really excited about that.”

Seventh grader Kate Winstead has participated in the competition for two years now and enjoys the competitive atmosphere that still encourages reading and communication.

“I just loved to watch everybody doing it because you get to cheer them on. The snack table is always the best part,” Winstead said. “It’s a great way to communicate with others and do a little bit. I mean it’s not really public speaking, but I guess to read more.”

The tournament brings other schools together from various parts of Shelby County, challenging the students to read as much of the books as they can to beat out the tough competition.

“For this year, our first round of the competition was against Collierville Middle School and then the second round was against Germantown Middle School. But in the past, we competed against Houston, and before that, we competed against Riverdale,” Mrs. Efkeman said. “Then, our next competition will be against Lamplighter Montessori school, which is the only other private school that is doing it. This is their first year to do it, and they are really successful. They already made it through two rounds of competition.”

Sixth grader Emily Zhao enjoys reading, as it is her first time participating in the competition. Although reading is a passion, it became a challenge that taught her about managing her time wisely.

“I like the reading part because I love to read,” Zhao said. “I learned time management because it takes me a while to read all of the books, so I have to organize my time.”

In the end, the Battle of the Books competition fosters pleasure reading and shows that reading can be fun.

“This particular year, I have had some students who are really motivated and want to win, and they’re doing a great job. So that’s really gratifying to me to see. Hopefully that’ll make them be lifelong readers,” Mrs. Efkeman said. “That’s my goalーultimately, for them to enjoy reading and to know there are lots of different types of books for them to read.”