This year’s Battle of the Books team needs your help!

The student group is short three participants and more are needed. Participants will be required to read three books from the Merced High School Battle of the Books list and will participate in the competition held at Merced High School in the winter.

Books for this year include classics such as Treasure Island, Grapes of Wrath, and Animal Farm, as well as new books like: Turtles All the Way Down, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, and Fault Lines in the Constitution and many more. A selection of these books can be found in our library.

Students compete at Merced High School against other schools from all over the county and teams from those schools. The competition is simple: students in teams are asked trivia questions from any part of the selection of books assigned to them. The questions will be incredibly varied, anything from specific detailed questions such as, “In what book did Chester eat?” to “What book has a big debate?” and some questions can be vague.

The club is led by Paulo Campos (12) and so far there are three student teams within the group.

The teams will follow a three step plan laid out by Campos starting with reading three books, then organizing teams, and finally getting ready for the competition.

Campos said,  “We need at least three more people who like to read, would read at least four books, have persistence to keep reading until competition day, and have a really good grasp on their books.”

However, he also cautions those who think they might have something come up at the last minute to think about joining so as not to “quit at the last minute.”

While the team is already in its second phase and building teams, more people are needed.  For those interested, see Mrs. DeGough or Paulo Campos to find out more about joining the Battle for Books team.