Amidst all the deserved Girls’ Basketball hype, certain NA students fought another battle. Seven students — the majority of NASH’s Library Club — participated in Battle of the Books, a book trivia competition sponsored by the Sewickley and Moon Public Libraries, last Tuesday night. Held at Quaker Valley Middle School, groups from around the area came to compete.

“I think it was the first time NASH has sent students to an event like this, and I think it was really exciting,” Ms. Wienand, NASH Librarian and the Library club sponsor, said. “I was delighted to take two teams and am hopeful that we can do it again next year.”

Students were provided with a list of eight books: One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater, Nxyia by Scott Reintgen, Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner, Kat and Meg Conquer the World by Anna Priemaza, The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah, and finally Far from the Tree by Robin Benway. They could read as many — or as few, in some cases — as they wished, knowing that reading more could only help their team in the competition.

“I love the Battle of the Books because it is really fun to answer the trivia questions on the books, especially since the books aren’t necessarily ones I’d pick but end up being ones I love,” said member of The 4 Ls Elizabeth Belden. “It’s great to expand my literary horizons beyond just fantasy and then get to discuss the books with other people who read them. It’s like a book club with prizes.”

With NA’s team The 4 Ls taking second place after nine tie-breaking rounds, the other NA group, The B Team, scored not far behind. The second-place prize was a $15 gift card to Penguin Bookshop, a local independent bookstore, for each team member.

“There was some tough competition,” member of The B Team Eli Coltin explained, “but I think it was a fun chance to test the team’s knowledge of the books.”

Opportunities for book competitions and other library-themed activities continue to pop up.

“There is also another Battle of the Books at Seneca Valley in November, which I hope we will be able to take a team to, so the books for that will be in the library in about a month for any interested juniors,” Wienand added.

If students are interested, they can check out the Library Club’s next meeting in the NASH library after school on Wednesday, March 6.