Three members of the Hopewell High School book club competed at the Western Pennsylvania English Festival at Duquesne University on Thursday, May 29. Junior Rachael Kriger and sophomores Bethany Schwartz and Shirley Witherow each read six assigned books in preparation for the event:

Is Kissing a Girl Who Smokes Like Licking an Ashtray by Randy Powell

Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls

The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith

Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar

The girls faced teams from the Pittsburgh region in competitions such as trivia, insights and talk show, during which they acted out themes as characters from the novels. They also met author David Lubar after he spoke at the event.

More than 1,500 students competed at this year’s festival, which is sponsored by the Western Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of English. The overall results of the competition won’t be announced until fall, but Hopewell team did place first in the small-group trivia portion of the competition. Congratulations!