The gym of Lawton Public Schools’ Life Ready Center was filled with nervous chatter before this year’s Battle of the Books began, with competitors fidgeting in their seats on the floor while friends and family offered support from the bleachers.
In the end, it took a tie-breaking quote, but The Survivors of Freedom Elementary emerged the victor over The BOB Warriors of Woodland Hills Elementary because the three-member Freedom team knew the answer was “Restart,” by Gordon Korman.
That answer ended Lawton Public Schools’ annual elementary competition, designed around the premise that good books should be fun and memorable. So memorable, in fact, that members of the Battle of the Books school teams will recognize a quote and be able to cite its book and author, winning points for each correct answer.
Lori Manning, library media specialist at MacArthur High and one of the event’s coordinators, said the rules for Battle of the Books are simple.
Each school receives the same 10 books, with students assigned to read and familiarize themselves as they practiced with quotes to ensure they would recognize the origin of the book when confronted with it. Books are a mix, with fiction and non-fiction sharing space with graphic novels and vintage classics.
The competition is divided into four rounds, each featuring five quotes. Student teams are shown a quote, then win one point for identifying the book and a second point for the author. The team with the most points at the end of 20 questions wins.
Students settled right down to business at the 2025-2026 competition, with almost everyone winning two points out of the gate with the first quote, “Yes, well, 17 percent is what we want you to give us. Welcome to our super secret team.” (Correct answer: “A Royal Conundrum,” by Lisa Yee)
Some students quickly wrote their answers on their white boards; others huddled at their table, debating options. It was a tactic repeated over and over that morning, with schools such as Cleveland Elementary’s The Falcon’s Return cheering silently, fists raised in victory, when they got the answers right for “Gregor the Overlander,” by Suzanne Collins.
The rounds progressed, team members debated correct answers and by the end of round four, Freedom and Woodland Hills were tied at 34 points, with Pioneer Park coming in third with 26 points.
It was a quote from “Restart,” by Gordon Korman, that sealed the deal.
“We read a lot,” said Freedom’s Maggie Berberea, explaining the team’s winning strategy.
“And we studied our quotes,” said teammate Kim Mastin.
The girls explained that the team studied about 40 minutes a day, four days a week to learn their material. Berberea said it took about a month to read all the books. A week, Mastin countered. “If you’re a fast reader,” Berberea said.
What was the most difficult book?
“Restart,” said teammate Tom Seegmiller about what he called a good read, adding the easiest book was “My Kingdom of Darkness.” “I read it on the bus.”
Manning said the competition is important because it promotes reading, adding that love of reading has become more important than ever in a digital world.
“The perception is that reading is dead. It’s not in our elementary libraries,” she said, adding that a love of reading developed in elementary school will follow students to middle school and high school.
That’s part of the reason the competition appeals to Manning.
“I’ve talked to several kids. They’re ready to take the title,” she said prior to the start of competition. “It’s so cool to get excited about books.”