Reading was a team sport Thursday at Pittsburgh’s Brashear High School.
Forty students from Pittsburgh Public’s CAPA, South Brook, Carmalt and Sterrett middle schools participated in the Youth Battle of the Books contest, which tested students’ knowledge from six books they were tasked with reading.
The initiative returned after a six-year hiatus and is a partnership between PPS and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
“This is a friendly, competitive book trivia competition,” said Erin Rudegair, the Carnegie library’s services supervisor for school partnerships.
The six books on the list were “Dear Mothman” by Robin Gow, “Mabuhay!” by Zachary Sterling, “The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All” by Sumiko Arai, “A First Time for Everything” by Dan Santat, “Not An Easy Win” by Chrystal D. Giles and “Stealing Little Moon: The Legacy of the American Indian Boarding Schools” by Dan SaSuWeh Jones.
At Brashear’s library, teams of students worked together to answer questions related to characters, plots and settings of the six books they were tasked with reading.
Teams earned points for each correct answer. CAPA’s “Sparkle Story Slayers,” won the challenge. Students Early Clayton, Lily Arrington, Lucy Dammerman, Ava Maxwell, Ayla Roden and Mili Jaramillo were awarded medals from Superintendent Wayne Walters.
“We try to pick newer books with diverse authors, settings and points of views, and a variety of genres,” Rudegair said. “At the library, we’re all about motivation and the joy of reading. This is part of our mission, to bring programs to get students excited about reading.”
A high school competition was held last week, and an elementary-aged one is happening next week.
Carmalt student Johnathan Starling said he enjoyed reading “Not an Easy Win.” The book is about a 12-year-old boy finding purpose and life lessons in the game of chess.
“It was very cool and entertaining, and the summary was overall, perfect,” he said.
Kate Buick, Sterrett’s librarian, hoped the event emphasized to students the role of libraries and librarians in school. She was impressed with the books that were chosen for the contest.
“I hope (students) feel proud to have been part of something connected to reading and books,” said Buick. “At the end of the day, my goal is that they have a positive experience with reading. My foundational objective is for them to have a lifelong love for reading.”
That doesn’t seem to be a problem with Johnathan, the Carmalt sixth grade student.
“I like being in a quiet place to sit down and use my head,” he said.