Enroll your library in the new, improved WrestleMania 27 Reading Challenge

 

At an event at Atlanta’s Central Library on July 6 with more than 200 teens, WWE announced that Superstars Big Show, Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston, and Hornswoggle, and WWE Diva Eve would serve as spokespersons for the WrestleMania 27 Reading Challenge. Award-winning teen authors Joan Bauer and John Green will provide books for the WrestleMania 27 Reading Challenge World Finals, and Bauer will serve as the judge at the Finals, which will take place on April 2, 2011, in Atlanta the day before WrestleMania 27.

 

School and public libraries interested in participating in the WrestleMania 27 Reading Challenge can register online at http://www.ala.org/wrestlemania by July 31. Official rules and more information on the WrestleMania Reading Challenge also can be found at www.wrestlemaniareadingchallenge.com.  There is no cost of participate in the program.

 

As the WrestleMania Reading Challenge enters its fifth year, YALSA and WWE have modified the program to give it an even bigger presence during Teen Read Week. Between Sunday, October 17, 2010, and Saturday, October 23, 2010, tweens and teens in grades 5-12 may go to their participating school or public library to obtain a WrestleMania 27 Reading Challenge Pledge Form. On the form, they will identify five books that they will pledge to read between Teen Read Week and WrestleMania 27. They are then eligible to complete a project to compete for the chance to be one of 21 finalists from the U.S. and Canada. Finalists attend WrestleMania 27, where they will vie to become World Champion for their grade categories.

 

Participants in grades 5-6 will design a bookmark illustrating a slogan that promotes reading. Participants in grades 7-8 and 9-12 will complete a poster on the following theme: Form a tag team of your favorite character from literature and your favorite current WWE Superstar, and describe or illustrate on an 8.5x11-inch piece of paper the strategy you would use to defeat the current WWE Tag Team Champions (as of October 10, 2010).  

Staff at each participating library should submit their winning projects in each age level to a national judging committee selected by YALSA. Seven regional winners will be chosen for each participating grade level. Each regional winner will receive a trip for two to Atlanta and tickets to WrestleMania 27 in the Georgia Dome, as well as $2,000 and free books for their sponsoring library. At the WrestleMania Reading Challenge World Finals, the regional winners will be quizzed on the contents of books written by Bauer and Green. Grades 5-6 will read Stand Tall by Joan Bauer, grades 7-8 will read Peeled by Joan Bauer, and grades 9-12 will read Paper Towns by John Green. The finalist for each grade category who demonstrates the best knowledge of his or her respective book after a series of 20 questions will be named World Champion and win a ringside seat to WrestleMania 27.

 

For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, films and audiobooks for teens. For more information about YALSA or for lists of recommended reading, viewing and listening, go to www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists, or contact the YALSA office by phone, (800) 545-2433, ext. 4390, or e-mail, yalsa@ala.org.

About WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family-friendly, PG content across all of its platforms including television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 500 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Shanghai, Tokyo, Toronto and Sydney. Additional information on World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) can be found at corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.

 

 

DK Publishing is world renowned for its distinctive, highly visual books that inform, inspire, and entertain readers of all ages. Publisher of the recent New York Times bestseller Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Visual Guide, among others, DK also publishes the award-winning Eyewitness series for children and Eyewitness Travel Guides.  DK is a division of Penguin Group (USA).

 

Penguin Group (USA) Inc. is the U.S. affiliate of the internationally renowned Penguin Group, one of the largest English-language trade book publishers in the world. Penguin Group (USA) Inc. is a global leader in children's publishing, through its Young Readers Group, with preeminent imprints such as Dial Books, Dutton, Grosset & Dunlap, Philomel, Puffin, Speak, Firebird, G. P. Putnam's Sons, Razorbill, Viking, and Frederick Warne. These imprints are home to Laurie Halse Anderson, Frank Beddor, Judy Blume, Jan Brett, Eric Carle, Roald Dahl, Tomie dePaola, John Green, Eric Hill, Anthony Horowitz, Brian Jacques, Mike Lupica, Richard Peck, Patricia Polacco, and dozens of other popular authors. Penguin Young Readers Group is also proud of perennial favorites such as The Little Engine That Could and the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series.

 

Topps is an international marketer of entertainment products, principally collectible trading cards, confections, sticker collections, and collectible strategy games.

 

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Headquartered in New York and now in its seventeenth year, E1 Entertainment Distribution is the largest independent music and video distributor in North America and holds the highest market share of any independent. In 1991, E1 revolutionized independent music distribution by becoming the first national independent distributor of domestic labels in the U.S., offering the first alternative to the traditional system of regional independent distribution or national major label distribution. E1 has since set the pace for independent music and video distribution in North America and now boasts an unparalleled roster of strong independent labels covering a wide spectrum of genres in both music and video.  E1's owned and affiliated labels are complemented by other leading independents such as Epitaph, Righteous Babe, Artemis, Compendia, Hopeless, Smithsonian Folkways, Acoustic Disc, Landspeed, Putumayo World Music, Arhoolie, Shanachie, Moonshine, Bar/None, Full Moon, Chandos, AnimEigo, Brainy Baby and Yoga Zone. This family of key labels, combined with E1's proven sales and marketing expertise, and advanced systems and technology infrastructure, makes for the best independent distribution network available in North America today.

 

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