During sixth period on Wednesday, September 9, the Bibliobattle Final for second-year junior high school students was held in our school's Main Hall.

Bibliobattle is a "book-review communication game" in which participants bring books they recommend and introduce what makes them appealing. After listening to the presentations, the audience votes for the book they would most like to read, and the book receiving the most votes is selected as the "Champion Book."

In preparation for this Bibliobattle, students were given a Japanese language assignment over the summer vacation to choose the book they found most interesting from among those they had read during the break and prepare a three-minute presentation highlighting its appeal. After the summer vacation, preliminary rounds were held in each Japanese language class, where students creatively introduced their chosen books to their classmates. Six representatives, one from each class, then came together to compete in the final.

The second-year students also took part in a similar Bibliobattle last year. As a result, this year's presentations showed significant improvement, going beyond simply explaining the content of the books. Many students demonstrated engaging speaking techniques and carefully structured their presentations to effectively convey the appeal of their chosen books. The six finalists delivered passionate presentations, creating an exciting atmosphere in the hall.

The Grand Prize was awarded to Ayako Suechika, who introduced the novel Summer, Fireworks, and My Corpse by Otsuichi.

The six books introduced by the finalists are scheduled to be added to the school library. We hope this Bibliobattle will inspire students to pick up some of the books recommended by their friends. Discovering a new book can open the door to a world that you might never have encountered on your own. We hope that our students will continue to broaden their horizons through reading by encountering a wide variety of ideas and perspectives.