This January, the Palm Beach School District hosted a clash of minds called the Battle of the Books. As the title suggests, 161 of our 6^th grade classmates joined their fellow students from other schools within the district in reading at least 7 of the 15 books chosen by the Florida Association for Media in Education (FAME). Their objective was to digitally battle it out by answering as many of the 300 questions in 20 minutes on the books they had read. These scores were recently released and Somerset’s highest scoring team answered an astounding 83 questions correctly proving itself to be worthy competitor.

There were many great pioneering forces that have earned a round of applause alongside the students of the club. One of which was Bill Kennedy, who organized the Battle of the Books competitors into groups and was a strong source of encouragement for the students throughout the process. Ms. Greenberg also thanks her 7^th grade students for their support of their fellow cougars and flexibility throughout the competition portion of the event. Finally, Ms. Greenberg has the admiration of many for her success at building the program from the ground up over the past 3 years into the triumphant team it is today.

When compared to last year’s total of just 35 students who competed, one can clearly see that the achievements made this year are enormous leaps for Somerset’s little crusaders. Ms. Greenberg plans on developing the program further and expects the scores too increase as well as club membership.

“This is absolutely a team effort, and I wanted to share the accomplishment of the 6^th Graders. I hope they continue to want to participate so that we can have more and more each year” wrote Ms. Greenberg, the club’s director and mentor.

“The purpose of the competition is to promote literacy in the School District of Palm Beach County” according to www.palmbeachschools.org . Around 2700 students from Elementary, Middle, and High school competed in answering trivia questions online on the 15 books they had read last year. Their goal was simple, to be one of the two teams to compete in a mock show environment in May for the chance to win the 1^st Place trophy for their schools and certificates for themselves. The trivia questions are chosen based on the book list for that year. These three separate lists, one list for each category (Elementary, Middle, and High School), tends to include Newberry Award winners and other recent influential or thought-provoking novels.

If you are interested in becoming a member of Somerset’s Battle of the Books team, please contact Ms. Greenberg at [email protected] or if you are looking for you next big read scroll down to view some of the inspiring, informative, and incredible on this years Battle of the Books book lists.

The Palm Beach School District states, “The Battle of the Books isn’t about winning: it is about reading, competing, and having fun while doing so.”

Middle School List:

• All’s Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson
• 24 Hours in Nowhere by Dusti Bowling
• Boy X by Dan Smith
• Breakout by Kate Messner
• Captain Superlative by J.S. Puller
• Elephant Secret by Eric Walters
• Ethan Marcus Stands Up by Michele Weber Hurwitz
• Greetings from Witness Protection! By Jake Burt
• Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake
• Knockout by K.A. Holt
• Nightbooks by J.A White
• Slider by Pete Hautman
• Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
• The Adventurers Guild by Zack Loran and Nick Elipulos

High School List

• A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
• After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay
• Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson
• Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
• Moonrise by Sarah Crossan
• Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe by Preston Norton
• Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer
• Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins
• Sadie by Courtney Summers
• The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater
• The Deceivers by Kristen Simmons
• The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed
• The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
• This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada
• Whisper by Lynette Noni