And the winner is…..”The Outsiders.”

March is noted for Women’s History Month, Irish Heritage and March Madness.  The annual NCAA College Basketball Tournament pitted the best teams head-to-head throughout March until one team was the champion.

But why limit “March Madness” to just basketball?

Minisink Valley High School celebrated a variation of this called “March Book Madness.”  Students were invited to nominate their favorite YA (young adult) novel.  The Top 16 with the most votes were finalists.   Each book went head to head with another book each week.

The Top 16 became the Top 8, then narrowed down to the “Final Four” with the winner being S.E. Hinton’s “The Outsiders.”

The author’s message in this work of fiction is that class conflict is pointless, unwarranted and destructive.

Students voted for their favorite book using the voting link on the library website.

“Voting in the March Book Madness is so exciting,” said senior Kathleen McCarey. “I love the friendly competition between all the English classes and the opportunity to name the best book.”

But it’s not just the books that are going head-to-head as the English teachers were competing, too.

Each week, the English teacher with the most votes kept the March Book Madness trophy for the week.

Emily Rufino held onto the trophy for the first two consecutive weeks!

Also being able to claim bragging rights for the coveted trophy were Jennifer LiLeo for the third week; and Laura Lalor for the fourth and final week.

“Making books a part of our daily lives and conversations, celebrating great books and getting excited about our favorite books show students that books and reading are important,” said library media specialist Dolores Lombardo.