Students embrace joy of reading at Children’s Choice Awards

More than 400 students from throughout Allegheny County attended the event, which featured a keynote presentation and Q & A sessions by author and illustrator, Matthew Holm; comedy and music duo, Josh and Gab; illustrator Joe Mruk; and a Battle of the Books.

Upper St. Clair coaches included Boyce enrichment teacher Sherry Garvey and librarian Morgan Olsen, Baker enrichment teacher Betsy Allen, Eisenhower enrichment teacher Shannon Dominick, and Streams enrichment teacher Mary Quinn. 

While the whole day was a lot of fun, the Upper St. Clair students most enjoyed the Battle of the Books event.

“Across the board, they loved the Battle of the Books,” Mrs. Quinn said. “Working as a team to remember the books and using the buzzers was a lot of fun for them.”

The Children's Choice Awards is a collaboration of the Allegheny County Library Association, the Allegheny Intermediate Unit and local school librarians, who select eight books for students to read independently between October and March. Students met with their teacher coaches to discuss the books and then voted on their favorite titles.

“The shared experience of reading is what makes this event so powerful – students from different schools finding ways to connect through the stories they had read,” Mrs. Quinn said. “So often, ‘school reading’ is tied to tasks, but this event, stretching from October – March allows young readers to just enjoy new literature and authors.”

This is the first time all four Upper St. Clair schools participated in the annual Children's Choice Awards. Based on this year’s success, Upper St. Clair teachers are already planning to return.

“We are all looking forward to having this be an annual outing.” Mrs. Quinn said.

The winner of the 2025 Allegheny County Children's Choice Awards was Max in the House of Spies by Adam Gidwitz. The other seven nominees included Slug Fest by Gordon Korman, Wicked Marigold by Caroline Carlson, Ferris by Kate DiCamillo, The Night Librarian by Christopher Lincoln, The Secret Language of Birds by Lynne Kelly, Force of Nature by Ann E. Burg and Trouble at the Tangerine by Gillian McDunn.