Horowhenua StarSchools often compete on the sports field, but a new inter-school battle of memory and minds is gaining in popularity.
Book Battle requires year 7 and 8 students to read a set list of books then answer a series of multi-choice questions related to the books, with random questions thrown in like “what colour is the blood of an octopus?”
Horowhenua resource teacher of literacy Belinda Whyte says Levin was purposely chosen as the venue to stage the Manawatū Literary Association initiative.
“We were conscious that Levin doesn’t really get to stage events like this and it’s a chance to have it in their back yard,” she says. “Levin Intermediate has really supported it with four teams entered, joining other teams from the Horowhenua region and as far away as Palmerston North and Whanganui.”
It was the second year that Book Battle had been at Levin Intermediate, growing from 30 teams last year to 48 teams this year – a total of 192 students.
One of the books was Nine Girls by Stacy Gregg, who won the 2024 Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award, exploring topics such as the Land Wars, the Springbok Tour, finding your own identity, and whānau.
The books read by Year 5 and 6 were Faelan the Wolf #1 Odd Wolf Out (Juliette MacIver), Lopini the Legend (Feana Tu’akoi), Koro’s Star (Claire Aramatuku), Wings of Fire #7 Winter Turning (Tui T Sutherland), The 39 Clues #1 The Maze of Bones (Ethan Young) and Guts (Raina Telgemeier).
The books read by year 7 and 8 were Wings of Fire #7 Winter Turning (Tui T Sutherland), The 39 Clues #1 The Maze of Bones (Ethan Young), Pearl (Sherri L Smith), Nine Girls (Stacy Gregg), Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai (Michaela Keeble and Kerehi Grace), Children of the Rush #1 (James Russell), When the Kehua Calls (Kingi McKinnon) and Below (David Hill).
Results: Year 5 and 6 – 1st Turitea A, 2nd St Joseph’s (1st and 2nd decided by a tie breaker), 3rd Fairfield. Year 7 and 8 – 1st Ōhau A, 2nd Palmerston North Intermediate, 3rd Levin Intermediate D (all three finished with 99 points, so placing were determined by tie-breaker rounds).
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