The 2023 Tar Heel Middle School Battle of the Books team poses with their medals.
                                 Courtesy of Elly Johnson

The 2023 Tar Heel Middle School Battle of the Books team poses with their medals.

Courtesy of Elly Johnson

Middle school was a really difficult three years for me. I started sixth grade at Cape Fear Christian Academy. It was a small school filled with kids who had all known each other since Kindergarten. And me.

I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t have a certain image in my head of what attending a private Christian school would be like. I imagined that my peers would be kind and studious with a passion for academic and biblical learning. What actually ended up happening was that I had no friends. I was an outsider and those kids made that clear. First by putting bugs in my locker (amongst other things that seemed like they belonged on an episode of “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide”) and eventually, just ignoring me.

I turned to the library to fill my spare time and somehow reading became more of a passion than it already was. I read fiction and non-fiction alike. I memorized my favorite passages from “Romeo and Juliet”, which I can still remember today and have occasionally recited for a captive audience.

Eventually, I decided to change schools, transferring to Western Harnett Middle School. I had assumed private school would be better than public school, but Western Harnett had clubs and classes my former school did not. The one I discovered quickly and that became my favorite was Battle of the Books.

Students who participate in Battle of the Books are given a list of titles and authors. The goal is to read all of the books and memorize each title with the corresponding author with the purpose of competing against other teams. Teams are asked questions that test their knowledge of the books on the list. On their website, America’s Battle of the Books describes the competitions as “similar to the TV series Family Feud of Whiz Kid styles of competition.”

Recently, I learned that students at some Bladen County middle schools are getting to experience the same excitement for reading and Battle of the Books that I did when I was their age 15 years ago.

35 students from Bladenboro Middle School, Clarkton School of Discovery, Elizabethtown Middle School, and Tar Heel Middle School gathered at Bladen Community College on Tuesday for the 2023 Middle School Battle of the Books competition.

The students came prepared for a book brawl and after 12 rigorous rounds, Tar Heel Middle School was declared victorious for the second year in a row.

The members of this year’s Tar Heel Middle School Battle of the Books team are Emily Campos Estrada, Everlee Nance, Ethan Ortiz Garcia, Eliseo Pablo-Bautista, Juleymie Zuniga Labra, Ritchie Gonzalez Velazquez, Sarahi Cuc Reyes, Jayden Bethea, and Javier Cabrera Mendez. The team was coached by Amanda Murillo.

Battle of the Books provides a competitive atmosphere and a sense of camaraderie among young readers. It also requires students to concentrate and think critically while reading.

Following their win, the Tar Heel Middle School Battle of the Books team will compete in the regional competition that will take place on March 28 at Bladen Community College. Bladen County Schools hosts this competition.