Cook The Books team wins Atchison County Battle of the Books
The Cook The Books team won the 2026 Atchison County Battle of the Books Wednesday, March 25, 2026, at Tarkio Tech in Tarkio, Missouri. Team members included Harper McElhaney, Lilly Maupin, Asher Stepp, and Tiberius Baruth. (Eryn Stepp photo)
The Cursed Book Battlers team included Jo Hurst, Garrett Wintz, Lucy Heck, and Aspyn Fast.
The Gnarly Innovative Readers team included Arianna Robertson, Scarlett Gladman, Dani Burke, and Brady Richards.
The Curious League of Book Battlers included Blaykleigh Daugherty, Markie Gaines, Aislyn Barnes, and Jaylee Wood.
The 24/7 Readers team included Cohen Lundquist, Simon Piveral, Emmaline Vette, and Sage Sundermann.
Mystery Of The Radcliffe Readers included Maddie Henggeler, Portia Ingram, and Vera Newbanks.
The Nothing Else But Books team included Xavier Bradbury, Ellee Salmond, Abbi Umbarger, and Eli Rogers.
The Blue Jay Book Worms team included Beau Waigand, Belle Herron, Elsie Gubser, and Sawyer Proctor.
The Mule Barn Theatre Guild, with the assistance of Atchison County Development Corporation, the Atchison County Libraries, and the county schools, hosted the annual Battle of the Books on Wednesday, March 26, 2026, on the campus of Tarkio Tech. This year, eight teams from Rock Port, Tarkio, and Fairfax participated in the event, reading the Mark Twain Award nominees for the year and answering questions with the book title and author.
Four teams made it into the finals. They were: Gnarly Innovative Readers – Arianna Robertson, Scarlett Gladman, Dani Burke, and Brady Richards; Curious League of Book Battlers – Aislyn Barnes, Blaykleigh Daugherty, Markie Gaines, and Jaylee Wood; Cook the Books – Lilly Maupin, Harper McElhaney, Asher Stepp, and Tiberius Baruth; The Cursed Book Battlers – Aspyn Fast, Lucy Heck, Jo Hurst, and Garrett Wintz. The finals ended in a four-way tie, so bonus rounds were held with Tarkio’s Cook The Books team coming out in first place, followed by The Cursed Book Battlers (Fairfax) and Gnarly Innovative Readers (Tarkio) tying for second, and Curious League of Book Battlers (Rock Port) in third place.
This year’s participants read a total of 52,944 pages. Aspyn Fast of Fairfax read the most pages with 3,104. Aislyn Barnes of Rock Port was second with 2,880 pages read and Asher Stepp of Tarkio placed third with 2,768 pages read.
Other teams participating in the event were: Blue Jay Book Worms (Rock Port) – Elsie Gubser, Belle Herron, Sawyer Proctor, and Beau Waigand; Mystery of the Radcliffe Readers (Rock Port) – Maddie Henggeler, Portia Ingram, and Vera Newbank; 24/7 Readers (Tarkio) – Sage Sundermann, Cohen Lundquist, Emmeline Vette, and Simon Piveral; and Nothing Else But Books (Fairfax) – Xavier Bradbury, Eli Rogers, Ellee Salmond, and Abbi Umbarger.
