Bronx bookworm bites off big win after plowing through 325 novels in just three months

by: Christina Boyle

A Bronx teenager has been named New York's bookworm of the year for plowing through a staggering 325 novels and comics in just three months.

From June to August, 14-year-old Brittany Lopez spent most of her waking hours with her head in a book - and was proudly crowned the winner of the New York Public Library's Summer Reading 2010 contest at Yankee Stadium yesterday.

"At times, I did go outside and play and hang out with my friends, but I think reading is the most important," the Morris High School ninth-grader said.

"It helps your creativity. It's not only for entertainment, it helps your knowledge."

Brittany's favorite book was Ellen Schreiber's "Vampire Kisses," but she also devoured the Harry Potter series and dozens of Japanese comics, known as manga.

"My mind is like a sponge," she said. "I take it all in."

The Bank of America-sponsored competition was open to all city students, who kept a log of the number of books they read cover-to-cover over the summer months.

The most improved reader was Christian Rosario, 7, who lives in Jackson Heights, Queens.

His family had to read books to him before the summer, but by the end of the three-month challenge, he had ticked 60 books off his reading list by himself.

"I read five books at a time," he said, adding that his favorite was a book about ghosts.

"I would take a break from reading one day, and then go back to reading the next."

Christian and seven other top readers were honored yesterday.

Other winners included Gartim Li, 17, from Manhattan; Amanda Ciaramella, 15, from Staten Island; Aliah Gilkes, 10, from Canarsie, Brooklyn; Dynasty Williams, 12, from the Bronx; Isabella Rosario, 5, from Staten Island, and Jordan Santos, 18, from Harlem.

The bookish brood got to stand on the field at Yankee Stadium, meet outfielder Curtis Granderson and have the cameras flash their images onto the Jumbotron as the crowd cheered.

"Curtis Granderson pinched me to check I wasn't dreaming," Rosario added. "I wasn't."

from: NY Daily News