Dozens of friends and family members of the Battle of the Books teams came out to show their support at the 14th annual Battle of the Books at the C.H. Booth Library, Saturday, April 7. After four rounds of challenging questions, the Brilliant Bibliophiles became the 2018 winning team.The Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman, The Last Boy at St Edith's by Lee Gjertsen Malone, The Seventh Most Important Thing by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.The War That Saved My Life by Shelley Pearsall, and

The Brilliant Bibliophiles was comprised of three contestants in matching blue T-shirts: Ellie Arcario, Grace Chiriatti, and Samantha Hatcher. Besides having their names engraved on the plaque in the Young Adult area of the library, each member received a gift card to Byrd's Books in Bethel.

The EMBS team also had a fine showing, taking second place in the competition. The members of this team were Eva Carey, Benjamin Haddad, Stephan Johnson, and Monica Tokar. They also received gift cards to Byrd's Books.

And, of course, there was a specially decorated cake for all to enjoy.

The Battle would not happen without the support of the Young Adult Council members who choose the books and volunteer their time and talent behind-the-scenes, as well as the day of the competition. The battle was hosted by Nicole Palmieri, a member of the "three-peat" championship team, The Demented Bunnies Who Love to Read. Sarah Flynn was the timekeeper and Amelia Coyle kept score. Library assistant Terry Tortora and retired librarian John Renjilian judged the responses for accuracy.

This year's books were