On Saturday, April 1, dozens of friends and family members of the Battle of the Books teams came out to show their support at the 13th annual Battle of the Books at the C.H. Booth Library. After four rounds of very challenging questions, the team I Ate Some Pi won the 2017 Battle of the Books.The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, Escape from Mr Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein, Space Caseby Natalie Lloyd. A cake featuring the cover images of the four books was also served for everyone to enjoy.A Snicker of Magic by Stuart Gibbs, and

I Ate Some Pi comprised three fifth graders, Samantha Hatcher, who was the captain, Ellie Arcario, and Andy Hong. The team was well prepared and responded correctly to 36 of the 40 questions posed. 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 Book Nuts also had a fine showing, taking second place in the competition. The members of this eighth grade team were Sammy Vertucci, captain, Chelsea Fowler, and Ashley Reed. The girls dressed in matching Book Nuts T-shirts and yellow face paint, showing great team spirit and love of reading and trivia. They also received Byrd's Books gift cards.

The third place team was Savage Squad, which included Joshua Schumacher, captain, Rohan Carey, Daniel Lee, and Thomas Phelan. It was followed by Team Rockin' Especially Awesome Divas (READ) with Emily Delp, captain, Laura Delp, and Aubrey Hankin. All participants received a gift certificate for The Little Bookstore run by The Friends of the C.H. Booth Library.

The Battle would not happen without the support of the Young Adult Council members who choose the books and volunteered their time and talent behind the scenes, as well as on the day of the competition.

The 2017 Battle was hosted by Nicole Palmieri, a member of the three-peat championship team, The Demented Bunnies Who Love to Read. The master of ceremonies was Simone Paradis. Julia Dolan was timer, Simone Paradis and Grace Miller were score keepers, Juliana Miraldi was the librarian, and setup and refreshments were organized by Taylor Cobb.

Children's Librarian Alana Bennison and retired librarian John Renjillian judged the responses for accuracy.

The Battle is organized by Young Adult Librarian Kim Weber and Ms Bennison. It is based on four great books, almost always Nutmeg nominees from the previous year.

This year's books were