On 12 March, four pupils from Years 8 and 9 participated in the 18th Portsmouth Literature Quiz, organised by the School Library Service, at the Victory Lounge, Fratton Park. The Literature Quiz is an enjoyable, inspirational event that celebrates reading for pleasure and motivates pupils about books.

They were competing against 31 other teams from 11 Portsmouth Secondary Schools, and in readiness for this event all the team members had to focus on reading the following four titles by popular authors who were present throughout the day, and also research the individual authors’ websites:

‘The Last Life of Lori Mills’ – Max Boucherat

‘Runaways’ – E.L. Norry

‘The Boy At the Window’ – Lucy Strange

‘Too Close To Home’ – Aoife Walsh

The Quiz was officially opened by the leader of Portsmouth City Council, Councillor Steve Pitt, who announced ‘Let battle commence!’. The Springfield team gave a strong performance, but this year’s eventual winners were the team from Trafalgar School.

After the quiz, the author panel held an entertaining and engaging question and answer session, which encouraged and gave an insight into further reading, and writing for pleasure. The pupils all had the opportunity to use book tokens gifted to them or to buy additional books from Hayling Island Bookshop, who were present at the event, and the authors were happy to sign these as a memento of the day.

2026 is the ‘Year of Reading’, and there are books to suit everyone’s taste available in Springfield Library, including the set titles listed above, so why not get reading soon?

Mrs Williams, Librarian