The Phoenix Riders were up for this reading challenge.

A team of four Sequim Middle School students emerged the top team in the North Olympic Library System’s 2019 Book Wars competition, claiming the title in an 11-team, 44-student field at the competition’s final at the Port Angeles Library on Feb. 22.

A joint school district and public library program, the competition is designed to encourage students to read for fun and culminated in a trivia contest based on 12 selected titles which students read throughout the year.

The eighth-grade students competed in semi-final elimination rounds.

Books included in the competition included: “Ghost” by Jason Reynolds, “Sparrow” by Sarah Moon, “Jazz Owls” by Margarita Engle, “George Washington’s Secret Six” by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yeager, “Frogkisser!” by Garth Nix, “I Will Always Write Back” by Cailin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda, “Leviathan” by Scott Westerfeld, “Piecing Me Together” by Renée Watson, “Refugee” by Alan Gratz, “Skeleton Creek” by Patrick Carman, “Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection” by Matt Dembicki and “Warcross” by Marie Lu.

The winning team included team members Ayden Humphries, Calem Klinger, Kari Olson and Anastasia Updike. Each member of the team received a Samsung Galaxy Tablet as a prize.

Other teams from Stevens Middle School, Sequim Middle School, Forks Middle School and Crescent School gathered at the Port Angeles Main Library of the North Olympic Library System (NOLS) to compete in the Book Wars final competition.

Sponsors for the program included the Friends of Sequim Library, Port Angeles Friends of the Library and Friends of the Forks Library.

For information about this and other programs for youth, visit www.nols.org, call 360-417-8500 x7705 or email to youth@nols.org.