The 13th annual Bookarama let middle school students become the characters in their favorite books.
By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published February 8, 2004
LARGO - Middle school students from all over the county stepped outside their real lives Wednesday to become characters from their favorite books.
Alex Maiorana from Kennedy Middle School assumed the life of a fisherman's son. Leah Best from John Hopkins Middle School turned into a Chinese maiden ruled by a cruel stepmother. Batya Levy from Dunedin Highland Middle School became a young girl determined to follow her father who is hot on the trail of a silver strike in 1880s Colorado.
For two hours, students from 15 schools mesmerized an audience of classmates and teachers with tales about wizards who live in trees, parents who shrink to the size of mice and princesses who escape their wishing pools in the 13th annual Bookarama competition.
Each student spent three to four minutes telling their listeners just enough about their books to pique an interest. They did it without costumes or props, relying instead on gestures and voice expression.
The districtwide contest, sponsored by the Office of Library Media Technology and the Pinellas Association of Library Media Specialists, brought the best of the best together at the district administration building. The 30 students had already won book talk contests at their schools.
Judges included Rose Marie Brown from Permabound Books, Ryan Roberts from Follett Library Resources and Jana Fine from the Clearwater Public Library. They critiqued the contestants on their ability to tell clear, logical stories and assessed points for articulation and eye contact.
In the end, the judges named Kathryn Davis from Joseph L. Carwise Middle School the first-place winner for her portrayal of Violet, one of three siblings who are orphaned when their parents die in a fire in Lemony Snicket's The Bad Beginning.
Kathryn's name will be engraved on a plaque that travels from school to school with the Bookarama winner.
Madeira Beach Middle School seventh-grader Vincent Green did not mind that he went back to school Wednesday afternoon without the plaque, which has been housed at the school since a Madeira Beach student won first place at Bookarama last year.
The aspiring actor, who played a young boy devastated by the recent death of his parents, said he was glad for the chance to flex his performance muscles by portraying Lafayette from Jacqueline Woodson's Miracle's Boys. Next year, he plans to present a comedic monologue.
"You have to play to your audience," the 13-year-old said.
This year's second-place winner was Zachary Mueller from Coachman Fundamental Middle School who did his book talk on Hatchet by Gary Paulson. In third place was Azalea Middle School student Hannah Stenfors, who presented Hana's Suitcase: A True Story by Karen Levine.
Zachary Hoge of Southside Fundamental Middle School came in fourth place with a talk on Broken Blade by William Durbin. Oak Grove Middle School student Marianna Thornton was in fifth place with The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares.
WPDS-Ch. 14 will air Bookarama at 2 and 10 p.m. Saturday and Feb. 15.
