The LMPS (Lakeland Middle Preparatory School) Battle of the Books competition begins at 4:30 this afternoon (2.20.19) in the LMPS library, according to Melissa Richarde, sponsor and ELA (English Language Arts) teacher.
“We will compete against Riverdale Middle School, Germantown, in round 2 of bracket play,” said Mrs. Richarde. “The winner of that game will go on to compete against Arlington Middle School in round 3 at 6 p.m. She said the LMPS team was given a bye in round 1.
The competition is part of the Shelby County Area Wide Middle School Battle of the Books. Students applied for the LMPS team in September and met monthly though January, switching to weekly sessions this month.
The contest encourages independent reading for students in grades 5-8. Students read 10 books (see list below). During February and March, they demonstrate their knowledge of the books by answering comprehensive content questions during game-show type competition against other participating middle schools.
Mrs. Richarde said Lakeland resident Carla Sohns has been instrumental with the competition. “She has actually spearheaded the Battle of the Books competitions for many years. She is the librarian at Germantown Middle School. Without Carla, we wouldn’t have this avenue of competition for our students.”
2018-2019 Reading list of title, author, pages and genre
Garvey’s Choice, Nikki Grimes, 108/novel in verse
Almost Astronauts, Tanya Lee Stone,133/non-fiction/biography (collective)
The Whydah: a pirate ship feared, wrecked & found,Martin W. Sandler, 170/non-fiction
Hoodoo, Ronald L. Smith, 208/fantasy/magic
Awkward, Svetlana Chmokava, 210/graphic novel/realistic
The Island of Dr. Libris, Chris Grabenstein, 242/action/adventure
Refugee, Alan Gratz, 338/historical fiction
Mayday, Karen Harrington, 344/realistic fiction
The Wild Robot, Peter Brown, 288/science fiction/dystopic
The Blackhorn Key (book 1), Kevin Sands, 371/mystery
