Take A Bite Out of Books (Grades 5-7)

The Battle of the Books will be Sat May 30th at the Champlain Centre Mall in Plattsburgh. 


So far this year, we have 1 full teams of 5 children, plus two teams of teach three children for the upcoming Battle of the Books.

There are just 4 spots that remain for Plattsburgh Library to have a third team. Children
Must be in fifth, sixth, or seventh grade in order to participate. Sets of this year’s books
are available at the Children’s Room desk, &parents must commit their children to being
at The Battle of the Books on May 30 to participate in the trivia challenge in order to
receive the books for your children.

Attached is a flyer with the book covers on it, as well as a document outlining the rules
for The Battle of the Books.  Please feel free to forward this e-mail to anyone you think
might be interested.

Please don’t hesitate to call (536-7445) or e-mail me if you have any questions.

Sharon
~~~~~
Sharon Bandhold, M.L.S.
Youth Services Librarian
Plattsburgh Public Library

BOOKS FOR THIS YEAR'S COMPETITION

Dewy the Library Cat
Mr. Lemoncello's Library
House of Secrets (bonus book)
Ninth Ward
One and Only Ivan
A Tangle of Knots


RULES: 
Take a Bite Out of Books 2015
Battle of the Books Competition Rules


Local Team Information
 Teams will be made up of a minimum of 2 players, with a maximum of 5 players, if desired.  If  there is a 5 player team, 1 player will be an alternate. Registrants must be in grades 5-7 in the Spring of 2015.  Only four members of the team will be “in play” during a round.  Substitutions may be made in team members between rounds at the discretion of the coach.

The Competition
 The competition will be held on Saturday, May 30, 2015 at the Champlain Centre Mall in Plattsburgh. All contestants and coaches must be at the mall by 9:15 a.m. for a briefing and assignment of the first round locations.  The briefing will be held inside the Mall outside of the Gander Mountain entrance.
         
If there is an uneven number of teams, the team from the library that won last year’s championship will receive a bye in the first round.

Teams should report to the Gander Mountain location to find out who and where they play next; or team members and coaches can ask each station’s staff member who has the walkie talkie for that station for this information.

The final competition will be at the Gander Mountain location.

Questions and Scoring
 Questions will be asked only by the designated questioner for each round.  Reading of the question will stop immediately when a buzzer is pressed.  The first team to buzz in will be allowed 5 seconds by the timekeeper to correctly answer the question.  If the first team to
buzz in cannot answer the question within the 5 seconds allowed, the question will be read in it’s entirety for the other team and they will be allowed 5 seconds to answer the question.

Team members may talk among themselves before giving the answer, but only one person may speak to answer the question. 

The question will stop immediately when a buzzer is pressed.  The first team to buzz in will be allowed 5 seconds by the timekeeper to correctly answer the question.  If the first team to buzz in cannot answer the question within the 5 seconds allowed, the question will be read in it’s entirety for the other team and they will be allowed 5 seconds to answer the question.

Team members may talk among themselves before giving the answer, but only one person may speak to answer the question.

The judges will have the final say over whether the question was answered correctly or not. The first answer from a team will be accepted or judged incorrect by the judges.

 If answered correctly, each question is worth 5 points.  Zero points will be given for an incorrect answer or if the question isn’t answered within the five seconds allowed.

During each round an equal number of bonus questions will be offered from the bonus book, House of Secrets.  How many of the bonus questions given in each round, however, will depend on the total number of questions asked in each round.  If a team answers correctly, the question is worth 10 points.  If the team that receives the bonus question does not answer or answers incorrectly;y, then the opposing team will be allowed to answer for 10 points.

Judges will be responsible for keeping each team’s score and will be the final authority on the Scores at the end of each contest.

The highest scoring team in each preliminary round will advance; the lowest scoring team will compete in the consolation division.  Winning teams in the quarter finals and semi-finals will
advance.  Losing teams will be eliminated after two losses; except for the championship round.

In case of a tie in any round, tie-breaker questions will be used to determine the winner. Five questions from a set of special tie-breaker questions will be asked.  The regular format will be followed.  At the end of the five questions, the team with the highest score will be declared the winner.  Should there be a tie at the end of the five questions, questioning will continue until one team answers correctly to break the tie.

Each round will last 15 minutes regardless of how many questions have been asked

If all of the questions have been asked before the 15 minutes expires, the team should stay at their station until the 15 minutes is up.

Questions
The questions asked in any given round will be the same in every location, no matter where the teams are located at the mall.  The questions will be based on the six books that the participants have been asked to read. The questions in succeeding rounds will be straightforward and specific and ma relate to characters, setting, plot, detail, or quote identification.  The bonus book, House of Secrets, will only be used for bonus questions in each round.

Questions will be read in their entirety unless they are interrupted by a team buzzing in.  The emcee will then read the question in its entirety for the other team.

The judges will have a set of questions with the answers and with reference to the book and page number where the answer can be found.  They will make the final determination as to whether a question has been answered correctly.

Any prompting from the audience will disqualify the question and void any points to the team answering the question.

There will be no challenge to questions by coaches, players, or parents during play. Challenges may be made to judges at the conclusion of each round.