Eight students traveled to Independence on Thursday for the latest round of the annual Battle of the Books competition which features students in teams of four answering questions about books they read.  

“You read a bunch of books and then you all get together and talk about your questions about it,” senior Ruth Wang said. “It’s kind of like trivia but it gets you to read a bunch of books outside of genres that you usually read.”

Participating for her second year in a row, Battle of the Books takes work according to senior Erika Cruz.

“You have to take time out of doing your homework and other stuff,” Cruz Cruz said. “You have to like get your hands on the book and read through it and understand what’s going on with the story, the plot, how the characters interact or the themes of the book, etc.”