By Melanie Rogers, Grade 8
Middle South

Illinois: Hawthorn South: Library: eight o’clock. The battle has been fought and the winner has been chosen. Friday, February 25, 2011, the Battle of the Books was held. Four teams competed for the title of Champion, but only one team could come out on top. These teams were the Bookineers, the Americas, Team Chocolate, and Team Olympians, consisting of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Each year, participating teams read 20 Caudill Nominated books. Questions are made based on these books and must be answered correctly to receive points. Specifically this year, the battle was close. This year’s champions, earning the three year champions title, were the Bookineers, with 68 points. Following closely behind, Team Olympians earned 63 points and Chocolate earned 61 points. Team American gave their best effort throughout the competition. Congratulations to the Bookineers! This eighth grade team has won the Hawthorn South Battle all three years and also won the North-South battle in the previous year. They hope to win the North-South battle this year, earning Hawthorn South another Battle of the Books title. The Bookineers team includes Marc Edler, Chirag Patel, Shubham Patel, Christine Tsai, and Melanie Rogers. The final Battle will take place on Friday, March 11, 2011. A special shout-out is for Mrs. Heady, who organized and judged this year’s Battle of the Books, and for Mr. T, who was the official score keeper. Congratulations to this year’s participants!