“In which book did a character stare at a frog?”
“Beep!”
“Jackaby, by William Ritter!”
After preparing for weeks, the Pelham Bookworms’ hard work was going to be tested. On Saturday, October 21st, all seven members marched into Hendrick Hudson High School in Northern Westchester County, ready to compete in the Fourth Annual Battle of the Books (BOB).
BOB is a competition in which participants from various town libraries each read a predetermined group of five books and compete to answer questions in a “Jeopardy”- style contest. It is nerve-racking, but also very exciting. Pelham’s team for older kids, the Pelham Bookworms, consisted of grades 6-9. Vivian Guo, Gabby Anitow, Matthew Doka, Jamie Burke, Clare Pachuta, Ava Vitale, and Madeline Simon all worked together to help each other answer the questions. (To read about the younger team’s experience at BOB, click here.)
Matthew’s mother, Tracy Doka, commented, “The Battle of the Books is a great event that encourages reading, teamwork, positive competition, and is a lot of fun.” Many parents, like Mrs. Doka, enjoy that their children take part in this activity since it engages students, and helps exercise their brain by retaining details.
The five books competitors had to read for the teen competition this year were: Jackaby by William Ritter, Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, Michael Vey Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans and Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson.
Some of the many questions asked during the competition began with “In which book …?” where teams would buzz without hearing the rest of the information. Sometimes, a Bookworm team member would accidentally buzz in halfway through the question and not know the answer, but it was amazing how, through teamwork, we solved it right on time. I asked Matthew, “During which part of the competition did you feel most nervous?” he responded, “When the moderator would say that my time was up and I had to respond to the question.” Many other teammates also felt the same.
The coach of the Pelham Bookworms this year was Oz Coto-Chang, who is Youth Services Librarian at The Town of Pelham Public Library. He held practices twice a week to help us prepare for the competition. I asked, Oz, “why he took such a liking to working at the library.” He answered, “I’ve been working in the library since college, and enjoy getting first dibs on the new tech coming out.” Another perk to working at the library! Oz prepared the team well, and many of his practice questions ended up being asked, so the Pelham team got a jump start on those.
After a long day of in which competitors stretched their minds, the scores were written on a white board. The Pelham Bookworms got fourth place out of 23 teams competing. Rye won first place, followed by Peekskill and Ossining. For many of the team members, this was their first time competing! The Bookworms did well and most say they will join again next year.
Join us on October 17 from 7-8 pm to celebrate the release of Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology with a visit from Afro-Panamanian American poet, performer, and educator, Darrel Alejandro Holnes! A performance of Holnes’ poetry by actors from stage and screen with be followed by a Q&A and group discussion facilitated by…
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The Town of Pelham Public Library is proud to partner with United Way for a coat drive from Tuesday, October 1 through Monday, October 21. United Way is seeking coats (new or gently used) and accessories (new hats, gloves, and socks). All genders and sizes are accepted. A box is located at the Library by…
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The Board of Elections will be at the Library on Thursday, October 10 from 12-9 pm. They will be helping voters fill out voter registration forms, absentee ballot applications, and early vote by mail applications. However, all forms must be left with the Board of Elections personnel in order to be returned to their office to…
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Westchester Library System Career Coaching Services presents a free, in-person seminar: "Managing Your Career in Changing Times." Join this six-week seminar facilitated by a professional career coach to clarify your career direction, explore career alternatives, and learn about the latest job search trends in resumes, interviewing, and LinkedIn. This six-week seminar meets in-person once a…
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Come to the Library on Saturday, October 5 from 1 to 3 pm to join local author Maria Rosell, and dancers from the Tumbaga Colombian Dance Company of New York, who will show us some traditional dances and costumes, and teach us a few dance moves too. Fun for all ages!
This program is presented as…
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Tickets for our first ever Booktemberfest event are sold out, but you can still get a head start on scoring tickets for Novel Night in 2025. Enter the raffle to win 2 tickets to Novel Night 2025 at the dinner of your choice by clicking here.
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September is Library Card Sign-Up Month, a national campaign to emphasize the importance of library cards to a child’s education and to combat illiteracy. This campaign started in 1987 when then Secretary of Education, William Bennett, stated: “Let’s have a campaign … Every child should obtain a library card and use it.” Libraries took this…
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K-Day is coming!
The Pelham Public Library’s K-Day is an annual event when Pelham children entering kindergarten can get their first library cards. This year, it will be held on Saturday, September 21st from 10 am-2 pm. We'll have a petting zoo, arts and crafts, and goody bags for the new cardholders.
To save time please, preregister…
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From the Philippines to the Dominican Republic, from California to Chile, Hispanic and Latinx peoples have many stories, histories, languages and cultures. (Although there is some ambiguity, generally “Hispanic” refers to Spanish-speaking peoples, and “Latinx” refers to people of Latin American heritage, including Portuguese-speaking Brazilians, for example. Celebrate the beauty and vast diversity of…
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You might think that summer reading programs are just for kids, but here at the library it’s for everyone!
Adults and teens in 9th grade and up can play our Reading BINGO game starting on July 1. Once you complete a BINGO you can enter a raffle to win a brand-new Kindle! You can get the…
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