Competitive fire is not something one usually associates with the generally solitary pursuit of reading, but that is exactly what motivated the four young men who made up West University Branch Library's 2019 Tournament of Books team. After a showing in last year's Tournament that did not meet their own high expectations, the team members re-dedicated themselves and hit the books...hard. Their persistence and drive paid off with a victory of four equally worthy teams from Spring Branch, Galena Park, North Channel and Kingwood.
In Harris County Public Library's Tournament of Books, teams test their knowledge of a set of fifteen books compiled by HCPL literacy staff. Five area high schools participated in Tournament of Books this year. Each school hosted a preliminary round to decide the team that would represent the school in the championship round held at Harris County Department of Education on Saturday, March 23.
The final round of the tournament consists of two parts. The first is a short answer Jeopardy-style round that tests competitors' factual knowledge of the books they read. The top three finishers in the first round advance to the championship round which consists of long form answers in which participants' interpretive, critical thinking and communication skills are showcased.
The West University team members are Nycoi Jones, Nkozi Jones, Aiden Santos and Christian Simmonds Jr. Each member of the first place team received a Kindle Fire. Teams from Spring Branch and Galena Park finished second and third respectively and received Amazon gift cards.
Harris County Public Library wants to thank all of the school librarians who coordinated the preliminary rounds, as well as all the students who competed. You are all winners in our book!
