It was a friendly and fun battle between 83 Lake Orion fifth graders to earn the top spot in the Orion Township Public Library’s 2021 Battle of the Books.

The 2021 program turned the final page on March 24, with 27 teams of two to four students battling it out online, answering questions about the books in this year’s battle.

“The traditional in-person battle competition, which has been running since 1986, was forced to be revamped to a virtual environment this year due to COVID-19 restrictions,” said Becky Bolin, library community relations specialist. “The new program included a combination of Zoom meetups, team video challenges and an online live quiz. The program kicked off in mid-November and teams were tasked to read and be quizzed on 10 books.”

“The youth librarians worked tirelessly to figure out exactly how we could hold Battle this year in a virtual environment,” said Ashley Lehman, head of library youth services. “We knew we had to make some big changes to make it just as fun as in person.”

Three teams took top honors at the Battle of the Books, while others won for their creativity and spirit.

First place went to the Golden Pages: Benjamin Schoenhals, Christopher Gonzalez, Shiva Arunchunaikani, Suhaas Maddipatla.

Second place: GirlsJustWanaRead: Emma Hopkins, Sneh Makhecha, Wynter Lemmon.

Third place: Book Divers: Anderson Buckland, Brady Borka, Brandon Houston, Daniel Ebbert

Most Creative Costume: Book Bandits: Allison Lockwood, Aubrielle Ripari.

Most Creative Team Name: Rosie the Readers: Betsy Hetu, Greta Colquitt, Trinity Hays, Verity Taylor. (photo above)

Most Team Spirit: Awkward Turtles: Alexis Frost, Daphne Williams, Marissa Hedrick.

All teams celebrated the four months of reading at a Victory party on Wednesday evening via Zoom with Battle of the Books authors Liz Braswell (Stuffed), Debbie Levy (Becoming RBG), and Janet Tashjian (My Life as a Book), Bolin said.

For more information, visit the Orion Township Public Library at 825 Joslyn Road; online at orionlibrary.org; or call 248-693-3000.

The library is open for Grab & Go service Monday through Thursday 9:30 a.m. – 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m..and Sunday 1-5 p.m..

Curbside pickup is available Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Curbside pickup is closed on Sundays.

See the March 31, 2021 issue of The Lake Orion Review for more photos