Region 13

Middle School Battle of the Books

2014 Competition Rules

Please note: rules are subject to change. Team sponsors will be notified if any changes are made.

General Information

The contest will be held on February 28, 2014 at ESC Region 13 at 9:00 am.

“Middle School” is defined as grades 6, 7 and 8. Each school having middle school students may field a team of up to five students; one alternate team member is allowed.

Each middle school in the Region 13 service area is allowed one team of six students. Homeschoolers are also invited to participate.

A registration fee of $50 per team is required to cover the cost of hosting the event. Team sponsors may register their teams in Region 13’s eCampus system. The workshop ID is SP1426922.

Each team must have a team name and create a poster displaying that name. Posters will be taped to each team’s table on the day of the event to identify the team to the judges. Posters should be legible and large enough to read at the front of the room.

“Uniforms” are not required, but teams are encouraged to display school and team spirit!

The contest is open to spectators.

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Questions

Questions will come from the 20 books selected for the 2013 Lone Star Reading List. The following is the official book list for the 2014 MS Battle of the Books competition. This list will be referred to for spelling, capitalization, and completeness of titles.

Author TitleBardugo, Leigh Shadow and BoneBarnes, Jennifer Lynn Every Other Day

Bauer, Joan Almost HomeBlumenthal, Karen

Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different

Bragg, Georgia How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous

Carvell, Tim Planet TadDavies, Stephen Outlaw: A NovelFlinn, Alex BewitchingKincaid, S. J. Insignia

Kindl, Patrice Keeping the Castle: A Tale of Romance, Riches and Real Estate

Levine, Kristin The Lions of Little RockLu, Marie LegendMcCall, Guadalupe Garcia Under the Mesquite

Meyer, Marissa CinderMorpurgo, Michael An Elephant in the Garden

Nielsen, Jennifer A. The False Prince

Palacio, R. J. WonderPetrucha, Stefan RipperSonnenblick, Jordan Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip

Stohmeyer, Sarah Smart Girls Get What They Want

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NOTE: The list can be found online at http://www.txla.org/groups/lone-star

Types of questions:

Multiple choice

True/false

Short answer

Quote identification – students identify the book from a direct quote, and answer with the title of the book and the author’s last name

Book identification – “In which book…” or “In which TWO books…” -- students answer with the title of the book and the author’s last name

Questions may come from the body of the book, illustrations, glossary, author notes, or any other information provided by the author. Questions will not be asked from the cover illustration of the book.

Procedures

Round 1 will consist of twenty-five questions worth 2 points each.

A question will be read and teams have 25 seconds to discuss their answer and write in on a white board. All teams will display their answers at the same time.

Titles of books must be written exactly as displayed on the title page of the book (subtitles do not have to be included for the title to be exact), and must be spelled correctly. No partial credit will be given.

When required, authors’ last names must be spelled correctly.

For short answer questions, answers should be easily recognized. If a word is misspelled, the judges’ discretion is final as to whether an answer is correct or not.

After Round 1, ALL teams will continue on to Round 2.

At the beginning of Round 2, the teams winning the first round will begin with the following point totals:

First place: 5 points

Second place: 4 points

Third place: 3 points

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Fourth place: 2 points

Fifth place: 1 point

Sixth and up: 0 points

Round 2 will also consist of twenty-five questions worth 2 points each, and will proceed in the same manner as Round 1.

The winner of Round 2 is the winner of the contest. If there is a tie after Round 2, all teams with the top score will proceed to a tie-breaking third round.

Tie Breaker

The third round will consist of three-question sets. The team ahead after the first set of three questions will be the first place winner. If there is no winner after the first set of questions, another three questions will be asked. There will be a total of 3 three-question sets.

If there is a first place winner and there is a tie for second place, both (or all) second place schools will be declared second place winners.

Challenges

Challenges may be made for the following reasons:

A team feels their answer should have been correct.

A team feels that the judges’ answer to a question is incorrect.

Teams should be prepared to defend their challenge by locating textual evidence in the book in question. A set of books will be provided by the judges for this purpose.

The team sponsor may bring a challenge to the judges. Team members should signal their sponsor, who will notify the judges of a challenge. The team will meet their sponsor at the judges’ table for a challenge hearing. After the challenge has been heard, the team and their sponsor will return to their seats. The judges will confer and announce their decision.

Challenges must take place before the next question is asked. Challenges will not be heard one the next question as has been asked.

The judges’ decision is final and will be made with all fairness in mind.

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