Five years ago, I learned about BoB, which led to the following chain of events: I rooted for my favorite, once, as a member of my school’s “Book Bloggers” club, next as a Kid Commentator the following years. I always like rooting for the underdogs.

As you can see, the aforementioned chain of events might just be extremely absorbing, exciting, and tensely competitive – especially when it’s about something I love, reading, with sixteen wonderful books. Even better, I get to write about it.

Once I first learned how to read, books were not merely a passion. They became an obsession. I devoured them, sometimes several in one day, a trait that stays with me to this day. Skip ahead about seven years, and I joined a club named Book Bloggers at my school, which provided an environment to discuss and recommend books as well as write reviews about them. If you’ve ever observed, or joined, a group of bookworms in their natural habitat, which is evidently when they’re bickering over which book, author, or series is truly the best, you’ll understand the excitement, elation, and fascination that comes with this competition. This is exactly how I feel about the Battle of the Books, as it is essentially that, except amplified. I’m thrilled to be rooting for my favorite book, and I’m confident this year will yield an amazing battle.