Students share literary knowledge at St. Jerome Book Battle

CHARLOTTE —From robots forced to survive in the wilderness to the true story of Norwegian children who smuggled millions of dollars in gold past Nazi soldiers during World War II, Diocese of Charlotte students got swept up in adventures to prepare for the St. Jerome Book Battle.

The annual Book Battle sees teams of students from Catholic schools face off against each other at MACS Fine Arts Center at Charlotte Catholic High School. It’s similar to Quiz Bowl, a national competition that tests knowledge of general academic subjects. The difference is these questions are focused on literature – a book lover’s dream.

Dru Edwards, a fourth-grader at Sacred Heart School in Salisbury, said the contest helped him get out of his reading comfort zone.

“I like reading, and through this I read a lot of books I would not normally have been interested in, but discovered were really good,” Edwards said.

The St. Jerome Book Battle was created by the diocesan Catholic Schools Office to encourage students to read books “that promote the true, the good and the beautiful and foster growth in virtue.”

Each school year, lists of 15 books are provided for fourth- and fifth-grade students and sixth- through eighth-graders. Guided by team coaches, the students spend months reading the books and participating in activities to increase their understanding of the works.

This year’s lists featured everything from historical and adventure novels to fantasy and mystery offerings, and two books focused on the lives of famous Catholic saints.

All of the books explore important themes such as faith, family, resilience, community, friendship and loyalty.

For Monday’s Book Battle, each school sent one team of 12 students who were asked questions about their books and awarded points for their answers. Teams compete against each other in preliminary rounds. The two highest scoring teams from the preliminary rounds compete head-to-head in a championship round.

Defending fourth and fifth grade champion St. Ann School edged out St Mark in a sudden death match to reach the championship round. St. Ann then won first place in today’s competition, with Our Lady of the Assumption School as the runner-up. Holy Trinity Middle School in Charlotte won the middle school competition held on March 9, and the runner-up was St. Mark School in Huntersville.

During a break between rounds, the team from Sacred Heart enjoyed snacks and talked with coach Leigh Yelton about how things were going. A book lover herself, Yelton teaches third grade but volunteered to handle the fourth- and fifth-grade team because it gives her a chance to interact with many of her former students.

“I’ve got a real love for literature and the language arts, so this is a wonderful thing to do,” Yelton said. “It honestly takes a lot of time and effort because our students start by reading the books the previous summer, and then our team meets frequently to prepare for the competition.”
Peyton Bloxsom, 11, a fourth-grader at Sacred Heart, said she enjoys the Book Battle because it not only gives her a chance to read but also to make some new friends.

— Christina Lee Knauss