metro Battle Of The Books Akiva students are winners In Southfield annual competition. Yehudit Jubas Special to the Jewish News A ii six teams from Akiva Hebrew Day School scored first, sec- ond and third place at the Southfield Public Library's annual Battle of the Books. The Friends of the Southfield Public Library sponsor the event, now in its 35th year. The Battle of the Books program encourages reading by holding competi- tions for fourth-grade, fifth-grade and middle-school students who live in or attend school in Southfield. Teammates read six assigned books of various genres of which five questions are asked per book. The Battle of the Books, an extra-curric- ular activity for these Akiva students, bal- ances academics and teamwork. These stu- dents volunteer to work together to retain detailed information during meetings scheduled after school and on Sundays led by team captains. Assigned book lists are released in November and students are responsible for understanding plot, characters, setting and any other information that pertains to the books. During the competition held at the Southfield Pavillion, teams are given 20 seconds to discuss and write the answers to the questions along with the author of each book. First-place winners receive gold med- als, a visual encyclopedia and their names engraved on the Battle of the Books wall in the Southfield library youth room. Second- and third-place winners receive gift cards to Book Beat, a local bookstore. The fifth-grade Book Bandits 2.0 made reader history by becoming the only team comprised of the exact same members to win first place two years in a row. Book Bandits 2.0 member Mo Berlin, said, "The Battle is so much fun, and now I enjoy reading more than I did before." Two-time gold medalists, the Book Bandits 2.0: Mo Berlin, 10; David Wrotslovsky, 10; Jeremy Morgan, 10; Joseph Kornblum, 11; Jaden Jubas, 10; and Cobi Smith, 11, all of Southfield. Book Bandits 2.0 also included Jaden Jubas, Joseph Kornblum, Jeremy Morgan, Cobi Smith and David Wrotslovsky. The fifth-grade, second-place Book Bombers included Lev Erschler, David Kleiman, Jacob Kleiman, Joseph Korman, Dani Lerman and Ilan Weiss. The fourth-grade, first-place Book Warriors included JJ Jacobs, Yona Kelman, Noa Pergament, Avi Skoczylas and Elana Stebbins. The fourth-grade, second-place Book Worms included Dalya Apap, Ezra Grossman, Elana Hochbaum, Yaffa Klausner, Daniella Weil and Joey Winer. The middle-school, second-place Barcode included Avraham Benjamin, Micah Eizen, Ezra Klausner, Moshe Dovid Lerner (from Beit Yehudah), Shira Schon and Andrew Schulman. The middle-school, second-place Rock 'n Read included Ethan Adler, Elisheva Apap, Rebecca Potoff, Jordan Stebbins and Justin Weil. ❑ HERALD WHOLESALE We Carry: PREMIER BATH, LIGHTING & HARDWARE Baldwin Blanco Casablanca Crystorama Grohe Hansgrohe Hinkley Minka 4 Murray Feiss Rohl Ronbow Schonbek Top Knobs Victoria Albert ...And many more 40% 0 F F Any One Item Storewide With ad, on qualifying products, new orders only. M& Th9am-7pm•Sat9am-4pm T, W & F 9 am-5:30 pm 1765 W. MAPLE RD. • TROY (248) 398-4560 www.heraldwholesale.com 1909650 30 April 24 • 2014 JM