Teen Battle of the Books: Team Manager Rules

The goal of this program is to include ALL readers, whether they be voracious or reluctant, advanced or struggling. We hope to nurture or spark a lifelong love of reading, promote teamwork, and have fun!

When is Battle of the Books?

  • 6th Grade: Tuesday, February 19 at 7 PM. Please arrive by 6:50 PM.
  • 7th/8th Grade: Wednesday, February 20 at 7 PM. Please arrive by 6:50 PM.
  • High School: Tuesday, February 26 at 6:30 PM. Please arrive by 6:25 PM.
  • All Battles are held in the Quaker Valley Middle School auditorium.

What are the War Rooms?

How does Battle of the Books work?

  • The teams will be seated together in a circle. The elected team captain will be given paper and pencil to record the team response. Only one student is to be responsible for recording answers. No other books or papers are permitted during the tournament.
  • The moderator will read each question twice and the question will also appear on a PowerPoint. Team members will have 20 seconds to discuss and write a response.
  • Both participants and audience members should keep their voices down because seating is tight and it is easy to overhear answers. We request that everybody stays as quiet as possible during the competition.
  • For 6th and 7th/8th grade Battle, questions will be asked in sets of 5. Answers will be revealed at the end of each set of questions. There will be 3 rounds of 10 questions.
  • For high school Battle, questions will be asked in sets of 4. Answers will be revealed at the end of each set of questions. There will be 3 rounds of 8 questions.
  • If there is a tie after 3 rounds, only the tied teams will answer tiebreaker questions. Questions will continue until the tie is broken and clear winners are declared.
  • This will be a long evening. There will be no intermission or bathroom breaks. Food and drink are not permitted. If a student must leave, we will not pause the competition.

What are the Team Manager’s duties?

  • Before the Battle, Team Managers should help their teams by scheduling team meetings, assigning reading, asking book-related questions, and the like.
  • During the Battle, Team Managers will be assigned to keep score for a different team. Team Managers will monitor team behavior, check answers, record scores on a tally sheet, and turn in those tally sheets at the end of each round.
  • Each question is worth up to 5 points.
    • 5 points: Correct answer and correctly spelled author
    • 4 points: Correct answer and incorrect author
    • 1 point: Incorrect answer and correct author
    • Answers are extremely specific and worded in a way that guarantees one suitable answer. If there is an alternate answer, the moderators will include it when the answers are revealed.

How do Team Challenges work?

  • If a team wishes to challenge an answer, Team Managers may verify or challenge a question on behalf of their team at the end of the round.
  • Challenging an answer does not guarantee a team will win points. Librarians have the final say on which challenges are accepted.
  • In the interest of time, we ask that teams limit the number of challenges.

What about the fun stuff?

  • Teams are encouraged to design shirts, make costumes, and decorate posters.

What if I have questions?

Thank you for volunteering to be a 2019 Battle of the Books Team Manager!

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