The world championships for the 2012 WrestleMania Reading Challenge were held on March 31 at the Miami Dade Public Library in Miami, FL. The winners are:
- Grades 5-6: Chase Leclair, Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada
- Grades 7-8: Nicole Jones, Mentone, AL
- Grades 9-12: Jesus Reyes, Denver, CO
They all won ring-side seats to WrestleMania XXVIII as well as $2,000 for their libraries to use towards the purchase of materials for their tween and teen collections. Congratulations to the three winners!
2012 Finalists
Twenty regional winners in grades 5-12 from across the United States and Canada won a chance to compete in the WrestleMania® Reading Challenge World Finals. The WrestleMania Reading Challenge is sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and World Wrestling Entertainment® (WWE®).
Each regional winner won: $2,000 for their library and a set of Penguin Young Readers books, donated by Penguin, airfare, ground transportation from airport to hotel, and three nights' hotel for the finalist and a chaperone to Miami, tickets to WrestleMania XXVIII, and $300 spending money. More than 1,700 libraries participated in this year’s competition. Students pledged to read five items beginning during Teen Read Week and submitted bookmarks or other artwork that promoted reading.
The 2012 regional winners are:
Grades 9-12
- Jesus Reyes, Denver, CO
- Cody Allen, Parrick Olmulgee, OK
- Jose Turner, Hialea, FL
- Alex Herrera, Long Island City, NY
- Kenyan Gustafson, Sleepy Hollow, IL
- Gurbir Johal, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Grades 7-8
- Andrew Gray, Port Hueneme, CA
- Nicole Jones, Mentone, AL
- Vachariya Dotson, North Miami, FL
- Cierra Grubb, West Mifflin, PA
- Josh Hoffer, Fessenden, ND
- Bianca Tavares, London, Ontario, Canada
- Harneek Kapoor, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Grades 5-6
- Isaac Rodriguez, Perris CA
- Maeve Murphy, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
- Stephanie Rodriguez, Homestead, FL
- Dustin Kramer, Allentown, PA
- Ayla Deuel, Oak Grove, MN
- Chase Leclair, Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada
- Caitlyn Gass, Lr. Sackville, Nova Scotia, Canada