Announcing the Winners of “Bookshare Everywhere” Summer Contest!

Congratulations to all our summer contest participants on a job well done!

398 students, from Kindergarten to college, participated in making Bookshare’s third annual summer contest a success.

This year’s theme, “Bookshare Everywhere,” celebrated summer reading and encouraged students to take Bookshare books wherever they went.  Students participated by reading as many books as they could and sharing where they read books this summer and how they made summer fun!

Ready to meet the prize winners?  Drum roll please!

Grand Prize: This year’s grand prize iPad 2 was awarded to the contestant who came closest to guessing the total number of books that would be read through the summer contest without going over.  How many books were read?  1,007!  Congratulations to 8th grade Bookshare member Sara Katzen who guessed 1,002 books.

In addition to the grand prize, there were multiple categories and opportunities to win Read2Go apps, MP3 players, and HumanWare e-readers.  The following prize winners will be contacted by Bookshare about their prizes.

Most Creative Book Entries: awarded to participants with the most creative answers to how the book made their summer fun!

• Grade K-5: Darcey Bennett review of The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School by Candace Flemming:

I loved this book! I had a print copy but the letters were too small for me to see, so my Mom checked to see if it was on Bookshare and it was. I was so happy! This book was great because I just finished the third grade and it was funny to read how it was going to be this fall in fourth grade. I thought it was funny how all the characters in the book had names that reflected their personality or the jobs that they had in the school. Like Mr. Halfnote was the music teacher, Nurse Betadine and the best one of all was Miss Paige Turner who was the librarian. The other neat thing about this book were the morals or lessons at the end of each chapter. My Braille teacher was helping me make a card for my mom and we didn’t have any more sticky tape so we used a sticker instead and she said “Necessity is the mother of invention.” I didn’t know what that meant until I read this book. I was sad that it was over. I hope she writes one about the fifth grade!

• Grade 6-8: Precious Perez review of City of Bones by Cassandra Clare :

This book was action-packed. I couldn’t put it down, and when I did, I was itching to be able to continue reading! From the battles between demons and Shadowhunters, and the extensive knowledge. From the personalities of the characters and the remarkable description, I could visualize each riveting detail and relive the story as if it were my own past.

• Grade 9-12: Brian Meersma review of The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway:

I started reading The Old Man and the Sea on my computer. I always had to read siting at my computer reading my books. I was not reading very much because I had to read sitting at the computer. My sister and mother could take their books to the lake and read on the beach, but I could only read my book sitting by the computer. I was crawling through The Old Man and the Sea. I wanted to read at the lake with my family, but I couldn’t. Then about half way through the book, the chains were unlocked and I could read anywhere I chose. I could read lying down, on the beach, in the car, and the kitchen table. Suddenly anywhere I could go, my Bookshare books could come with me. No, my parents hadn’t given me permission to bring the family desktop to the beach, lake, Doctor’s office waiting room, in the car or to the kitchen table; the Read2Go app was released. Now I can enjoy The Old Man and the Sea and any other book anywhere I’d like. With Read2Go I flew through the second half of the book in one day. The book was much more enjoyable when I could read it anywhere. I was so excited to be able to read with my family at the beach. I was even able to rent a row boat and set my imagination free pretending I was fighting the monster fish with the old man!

• College: Jasmine Kotsay review of Gentle’s Holler by Kerry Madden:

This fantastic book is about a family of eight children who live in the mountains with their parents. All of the children can see but one: the second youngest girl, Gentle. The family takes Gentle to an eye doctor and gets the sad news that Gentle may never see. Gentle reminds me of myself when I was little. No one knew what was wrong until they took me to an eye doctor, and just like Gentle, the doctors told my family to just send me away to a school for the blind. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves to read, because it will warm your heart to see that anyone is able to survive, even if they don’t know how they will get by from day to day.

Most Interesting Place: awarded to participants who took their books to the most interesting places both near and far!

• Grade K-5: Katherine Warren was a reader-on-the-go, taking her books literally everywhere she went fitting reading in the car, at meals, before swim team practice, in the kitchen while snacking, in bed and even her parent’s room!
• Grade 6-8: Kenia Flores read enjoyed Bookshare books in tropical Hawaii, lounging by the pool and at the beach.  Aloha!
• Grade 9-12: Jadey-Braj Schuerman read under the stars in the backyard while reading the Star Trek series.  Now that’s really getting into your book!
• College: Allison Nastoff read her summer books at the Governor’s office during breaks at her summer internship.  What a productive summer!

Top Readers: awarded to participants who read the most books in their grade level

• Grade K-5: Correy Crawford, 80 books read
• Grade 6-8: Cricket Bidleman, 17 books read
• Grade 9-12: Nichole Maples, 184 books read
• College: Justine Aragon, 28 books read

Congratulations to all our participants who did an amazing job this summer.  There were so many thoughtful and creative entries, and judging was extremely difficult.  Bookshare plans to have many more fun contests and events, so stay tuned!