Reading Widely, Cheering Wildly: Global Reading Challenge City Finals Recap

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April 2

And the winner was the Loyal Heights' The Sparky Beavers after 10 tiebreaker rounds.

Ten was the magic number for Loyal Heights Elementary's The Sparky Beavers at the Global Reading Challenge citywide finals on Tuesday, March 26, at the Central Library. That's how many tiebreaker rounds it took for this team of fourth and fifth graders to eliminate eight other finalist teams and become the 2024 Global Reading Challenge champions.

A packed audience of around 275 parents, siblings and friends clapped for the Beavers and all the teams' valiant efforts as the winning team received their trophy. (The Beavers' cheer squad included fans in a panda suit and a chicken suit, since a beaver suit wasn't available.)

This year's Global Reading Challenge books

Now in its 29th year, the Library's Global Reading Challenge is a collaboration between the Library and Seattle Public Schools that encourages reading as a fun and recreational activity for fourth and fifth graders. The program starts in the fall, with students of all reading abilities forming teams to read and study eight books selected by the Library for their accessibility and because they represent a wide range of experiences by authors with cultural connections to the stories they tell.

The Library makes thousands of the books available to students in multiple formats (including Always Available digital copies and uncatalogued copies) and in Spanish-language versions when available.

"Cheer Wildly"

In 2024, out of 495 Global Reading Challenge teams district wide, 70 made it to the semi-finals and nine to the finals.

While competition is fierce, good-spiritedness and celebration of reading are the hallmarks of Global Reading Challenge events. Both were in abundance at the citywide finals. As the audience waited for the competition to begin, librarian Jenny Craig reminded the audience that their job was "to cheer wildly."

The Global Reading Challenge citywide finals are about to begin.

Seattle sports fans have nothing on the noise that Global Reading Challenge superfans made (at appropriate times, of course). As the finalist teams worked together to answer three rounds of eight each, followed by the 10 tiebreaker questions, this crowd was truly cheering for everybody.

The 2024 finalist teams were: Beacon Hill's Super Seven, Bailey Gatzert's 70% Water, North Beach's Fuengo Pengoes, John Muir's Potatoes of JM, Loyal Heights' Sparky Beavers, Madrona's Spaghetti Cats, Steven's Tango Mangoes, Thornton Creek's Reputation Readers and Thurgood Marshall's The Crescent Moons.

After a judge read a trivia question, teams worked efficiently to answer – huddling, furiously whispering, coming to an agreement, writing down the answer and delivering it to the judges. It was clear that these kids knew the books really well.

Answers were announced after each question, which resulted in fist pumps, foot stomps, quiet cheers, and occasional sighs.

Teams could pose a challenge, presenting a case for why their answer fit. For example, a true/false question was asked about the book "A Kind of Spark:" Did a well in Edinburgh acknowledge that innocent people were accused of being witches?

A team challenged the "false" answer because they believed there was an acknowledgment, although not of innocence. After consulting the book, the judges did not accept the challenge, but noted the team's excellence in examining the details and advocating for their team.

"There's nothing like a challenge to get the adrenaline going," said the judge.

After three rounds, an amazing five out of nine teams were tied. As librarian Jenny Craig noted later, "We pulled out our hardest questions, and boy, did these teams meet the challenge – the scores were very close."

During the tiebreaker rounds, questions went deep and deeper. By question eight, just two teams were left: Loyal Heights' The Sparky Beavers and Thornton Creek Reputation Readers.

The final question asked about the type of wood used in a collection of figures in the book "Healer of the Water Monster." After a final nail-biting moment while the judges read the answers (cottonwood was correct), The Sparky Beavers were declared the victor. They had not missed a single answer during all 34 questions.

Loyal Heights' librarian Colette of the Sparky Beavers

Loyal Heights' school librarian Colette Blangy, who worked with The Sparky Beavers, noted that a key part of the program's success was the selection of books.

"The fact that SPL makes the books so accessible to kids really makes the program work equitably," she told a Seattle Public Schools spokesperson. "My favorite part of the challenge is walking around during our meetings and listening to our students really talking about books. It never gets old."

As the crowd made their way out of the auditorium, a Thornton Creek parent reflected on how much her daughter had learned. "She told me she makes mental notes now when she reads," the mom said.

Beyond reading benefits, another parent said, the program "has really taught communication skills and teamwork. They learned to trust each other."

The Global Reading Challenge is made possible by funding from The Seattle Public Library Foundation, Ballard Rotary, The Northwest Literacy Foundation, McEachern Charitable Trust, Leob Family Charitable Foundation and Deloitte. We thank our partners at Seattle Public Schools who make this program possible every day. Find out more at www.spl.org/GlobalReadingChallenge

Finalist teams: