Elwood Students Engage in a Battle of the Books

Several Elwood Middle School students spent the summer months engaged in their love for reading at the local public library and earned recognition in the Suffolk County Battle of the Books competition.

“Battle of the Books is an event sponsored by the Suffolk Cooperative Library System where teens in grades six through nine from almost 50 libraries across the county go to head-to-head in a trivia competition based on eight young adult novels,” said Elwood Public Library teen librarian Jessica Bouchelle.

The 15 participating teens attended weekly battle meetings starting at the end of June. Six participants represented the library in the Battle of the Books – Cateyann Bernhard, Sasha Jamal, Chloe Keil, Hannah Kleinman, Caitriona Meehan and Rithika Narayan.

The middle school team, the Elwood Book Eaters, earned sixth place overall in the competition and earned two nonscoring awards – Team Choice and Best Sportsmanship. The Team Choice award winner was selected by the other participating teams and the sportsmanship accolade was awarded by the battle’s judges.

“These two awards show [the] character and true spirit of our Elwood teens,” said Bouchelle, who coached the team alongside assistant Matthew Pinto. “The girls did an amazing job. I am so proud of them.”

Story by Syntax, Photos courtesy of Elwood Union Free School District:
1: Members of the Elwood Book Eaters earned sixth place overall in the Suffolk County Battle of the Books competition.
2: The Elwood Book Eaters were “ready for battle” during the Suffolk County Battle of the Books competition.