Pictured are, top row (L to R): Taylor Short, Audrey Powers. Bottom row: Emma Peters, Weston Krug, Abby Johnson. Missing from photo: Allison McLaren.

A Union High School team, “That’s What She Read,” placed 7th in the final round of the Battle of the Books (BOB) competition on April 26. Team members were: Taylor Short, Weston Krug, Abby Johnson, Audrey Powers, Emma Peters, and Allison McLaren

BOB is a reading competition designed to encourage students to read. Teams of five or six students read novels from a pre-selected list of 28 award-winning books. Books include the genres of fiction, non-fiction, realistic fiction, science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, biography/memoirs, and graphic novels. Students on the BOB teams have each read five or more books since October.

In February, 71 teams from Iowa “battled” on-line by identifying authors’ names and answering fact-based questions about the book. The top 14 teams were invited for the final battle at Marshalltown High School in April.

The BOB team members are students in the SAILS gifted program with Mrs. Vada Elliott and Mrs. Jennifer Gassman.