The Supernaturalists of Fairfax included Wendy Hurst, Ava Oswald, Ryann Salmond, and Addy Giddinge.
The Thirsty for Winning team from Rock Port included Ali Ellis, Locke Chaney, and Kipton Waigand.
The Twilight Children of Fairfax included Emmett Umbarger, Eli Rogers, Aspyn Fast, and Adalyn Pemberton.
The Curious League of Book Builders from Rock Port included Jaylee Wood, Markie Gaines, Blaykleigh Daugherty, and Aislyn Barnes.
The Clue Club from Tarkio included Tiberius Baruth, Kenzie Howard, Arianna Robertson, and Lilly Maupin.
The Fierce Book Baboons team from Tarkio included Brady Richards and Jaina Murray.
The 2025 Atchison County Battle of the Books took place on Wednesday, March 26, at Tarkio Tech. There were six teams of fourth through sixth graders from all three school districts in the county vying for title of champion and the most knowledgeable of the 12 Mark Twain Award books they are quizzed about. All competing teams have the hopes of signing the famous giant yellow pencil and getting the honor of taking it back to their school, signifying that the school was home to the 2025 Battle of the Books Champions.
The participants were served pizza, water and cookies before the battle started to get their creative juices flowing. Competing teams were the: Supernaturalists – Wendy Hurst, Ava Oswald, Ryann Salmond, and Addy Giddinge; Curious League of Book Battlers – Jaylee Wood, Aislyn Barnes, Markie Gaines, and Blaykleigh Daugherty; Fierce Book Baboons – Brady Richards and Jaina Murry; Twilight Children – Aspyn Fast. Emmett Umbarger, Adalyn Pemberton, and Eli Rogers; Clue Club Peeps – Kenzi Howard, Lilly Maupin, Tiberius Baruth, and Arianna Robertson; and Thirsty for Winning – Ali Ellis, Lincoln Leichliter, Kipton Waigand, and Locke Chaney.
There are two challenges of 12 rounds of questions. If a team made it through the first challenge and scored higher than others, then they moved on to the final challenge. In the first challenge each team is given a statement about each of the 12 books, amounting to 12 rounds for each team. If the teams guess the correct title, they receive one point, and another point if they guess the correct author. The top three teams from the first round advanced to the championship round, where they again competed in a 12 question round with 24 possible points. After a first round tie breaker, Twilight Children, Supernaturalists, and Curious League of Book Battlers advanced to the championship round. The championship round ended again in a tie. One more question brought the competition to a close with the Supernaturalists in first place, Curious League of Book Battlers in Second, and Twilight Children in third place.
Many individuals and organizations made the 2025 Battle of the Books a success. The Atchison County Development Corporation (ACDC) provided a grant to buy multiple copies of the 12 Mark Twain winners for each school, the food, and the prizes. Rock Port and Tarkio PEOs, Tarkio Rotary Club, New Horizons, and Fairfax Kiwanis Club also contributed to the purchase of books and prizes. The Atchison County Library bought extra books for each library branch. All three schools encouraged the fourth-sixth graders to participate and the Mule Barn Theatre Guild has been endorsing and supporting this event since 2008.
