From mystery to history

Eight teams, whittled down from 21 public, private and home-schooled teams that competed in a March 7 written competition, answered 40 questions Saturday about 20 books ? ranging from mystery to history ? that they started reading in the fall, said Donna Parks, who is head of the library's children's department.

On Saturday, the teams, made up of either seven or eight fourth- through sixth-graders, huddled together to brainstorm answers to Parks' questions and scribbled their answers on large sketchbooks.

The room was silent. Some parents scribbled down scores. Some pumped their arms or snapped their fingers, depending on the outcome of the question.

One parent, Will Kutzera, 40, kept score on the back of his program. He said he was trying to figure out how his 10-year-old daughter, Maddie, and her St. Mary's School team, "The Chapter Chasers," ranked. He was keeping track partly because he found scoring the brain game fun and partly because he wanted to make sure his daughter's team beat his friend's team, he said with a smile.

"It's just good to see competition on how much you enjoy reading or how much you enjoy using your brain," he said. "The brain is just as important as the muscles."

And the thrill of competing in a sport is not much different than the thrill of competing in Battle of the Books, said "BSI: Book Scene Investigators" member Skyler Casto, 9, who also is a softball and basketball player.

"It's a fun feeling when you get a shot and it's a fun feeling when you get a question right," she said.

James Shifler, 10, a fifth-grader at Cascade Elementary School, looked a little glum after the winners were announced. He said he figured his team, "The Page Hoppers," finished in last place.

"We got an F. We got 42 percent," he said.

His teammate, Caitlyn Wilson, 11, told him to look on the bright side.

"At least we made it this far," she said.