YVETTE BATTEN yvette.batten@tnl.co.nz - Taranaki Tuesday, 12 June 2007
• Hawera Intermediate School students love their books so much they practised a year for the Kids' Lit Quiz.
Their endurance saw them breeze through the regional heats during May and head for the nationals against 13 other teams in Auckland last weekend.
The group of four year eight students, Alex Verry, Gabby Ward, Bronte Heron and Jessica Howartson, came fourth equal with St Margaret's College from Christchurch.
It was a close contest with only six points separating the top six teams.
Principal Fiona Parkinson says watching the children answer the 60 questions about literary topics including movies, books and authors was nerve-wracking.
"We were sitting on the edge of our seats. They had a huge support crew with lots of family there," she says.
This is the first time the school has got so far in the contest and Mrs Parkinson puts it down to practice with their tutor Mandy Conaglen.
"After the last Lit Quiz they just decided to keep going.
"They've kept on doing their reading and talking about what they've been reading."
At the quiz last weekend, St Cuthbert's College from Auckland came first and is headed to Oxford in England for the world final in July.
Kid's Lit Quiz is part of the Storylines Festival of New Zealand Children's Writers and Illustrators.
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