The fifth grade teams Book Nerds vs Reading Girls competed Friday, and both advanced in the tournament (Corinne Smith/KHNS)

Haines students are in the midst of the annual Tournament of the Readers, which takes place each morning for the month of February. Teams of second through fifth graders are competing to test their knowledge of a selection of books, from science fiction to mystery and adventure. KHNS’ Corinne Smith reports.

A group of fourth graders are gathered in front of the Haines School Library Friday morning, studying the large tournament bracket posted on the wall.

In a few minutes, two teams of fifth graders will go head to head – today it’s the Book Nerds vs the Reading Girls. And it’s going to be close. 

“It might tie because both of these teams haven’t lost yet and they’re both really good,” said fourth grader.  Gwendolyn Kosinski. “Yeah we’ve only had one tie breaker,” adds Avery Beck. 

Student teams collectively read eight books, and compete to answer questions to test their knowledge of the stories. The team with the most correct answers, advances to the next round. 

“It’s exciting!” said Kosinski.

“Yeah it’s exciting when you win, and kind of disappointing when you lose,” said Beck.

Haines school librarian Leigh Horner organized the event , and is one of the judges.

“So we have 13 teams, there’s 53 students participating,” said Horner. “And we hold the game every day, it’s 20 minutes, and they love it.”

Classmates come to watch the competition and support the teams. As the library begins to fill up, Horner explains she chose a variety of stories to pique students’ interests. 

“I tried to get a variety of genres, because if kids are like stuck in fantasy, I want them to read some historical fiction, and get them out of their comfort zone and break it up,” Horner said. “And a lot of times, if there’s a book that the author will have a lot of other books, then it will encourage them to read other books by that same author. I just tried to break it up.”

The two teams, the Book Nerds and the Reading Girls take their places at tables in the front of the room. They’re serious and focused, and the crowd gets quiet. Volunteer announcer Karen Garcia reads the first question from a fantasy book, Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms by Lissa Evans.

 “Question number one to the Reading Girls. Alright, April, May and June are identical triplets. Which one wears glasses?”

The team answers, “April?”

“You had a 33% chance of getting that correct. And you are correct!”

The audience erupts in applauds.

The question rounds go fast. The teams deliberate sometimes for just a few seconds, before the team captain declares the answer.

“What state does the Avon family leave when they move to Arizona? Kansas. Kansas is correct! Great job.”

It’s all over in about 10 minutes. And in the end, it’s close, but Mrs Horner announces the Reading Girls pulled ahead. But it’s double elimination, so both teams will continue on in the tournament. 

“​​Okay, it came down to one question. And so Book Nerds you’re gonna go on to play down in the lower bracket, and Reading Girls you will continue on in the upper bracket!” Horner said. The crowd applauds.

After the competition, both teams race over to a book cart to collect prizes for playing. Fifth grader Sophia Hedden played on the Book Nerds team.

“It went pretty well, I kind of feel achieved, because we only lost by like one question,” Hedden said. “And I felt like it was a really good match. And we had good opponents. And it wasn’t like, too easy or too hard.”

Mrs. Horner, the school librarian, says the competition challenges students’ recall, and also their own assumptions. One book especially, is The Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling. 

“That is such a great story,” Horner said. “There’s a girl, she’s born without any arms. And I had a student say to me, “Born without arms? She can’t do anything.” And I said, Ah, that’s where you’re wrong. Read the book, and you can find out she can do everything. It’s really a fabulous story about compassion and understanding others with disabilities. It is a really good book.”

She says students become invested in the stories and the competition.

“It’s super fun. It’s super fun to watch them get so excited. It’s a little heartbreaking when they lose and they know they’re out, that can be sad,” Horner said. “There’s been some tears. There always is. But, you know, the Tournament of the Readers helps kids learn how to lose too. It’s good to be a good loser. And a good winner.”

Eight teams are continuing on to compete in the Tournament of the Readers, with the final round on February 28.