Battle of the Books returns to NUMS

NEW ULM – New Ulm Middle School held the 6th Annual "Battle of the Books" this week with 25 students participating in teams of two of three.

The teams were tasked with answering questions about 12 books assigned to the students earlier in the school years. This year's books were "The End of the Wild" by Nicole Helget, "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B. B. Alston, "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young, "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" by William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer, "Iceberg" by Jennifer A Nielsen, "A Rover Story" by Jasmine Warga, "Drama" by Raina Telgemeier, "Scat" by Carl Hiaasen, "The Swifts" by Beth Lincoln, "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech, "Mixed Up" by George Korman and "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell.

The year the Battle of the Books was won by "The Grim Readers." The team consisted of Kaydence Wiley, Greta Berger and Lauren O'Neill.

Second place went to Carlila Schlumpberger, Presley Ortmann and Hayden Bellefeuille of "The Reader Beaters."

Ainsley Berger, Ella Vote and Stella Albrecht of team "Girls on Fire for Books" finished third.

Battle of the Books organizer Vickie Tambornino said this year's contest brought a return to the Berger dynasty. In the first four years of the contest, a member of the Berger family was on the winning team. Sophie Berger was on the winning team before aging out of the school. In the fourth year, her sister Greta Berger was on the winning team, but in 2024 none of the Berger family was on the winning team. This year, Greta Berger was on the winning team again. In addition, another Berger sister joined the competition with Ainsley Berger on the third place team.