Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Program Overview

• •The program is open to students in grades 4 through 12.
• •Elementary and middle school students (grades 4-8) must read books from the Georgia Children's Book Award nominee list.
• •High school students must read from the Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers nominee list.
• •The competition format involves teams from different schools testing their knowledge of the selected books.
• •Winning teams advance from local competitions to regional levels, and finally to the State Championship at the University of Georgia.
• •The Georgia Peach Book Award committee selects 20 nominees annually from a pool of 150-200 titles.
• •Parents may opt their children out of reading specific books on the list, though competition questions will still cover all books on the official list.
• •The program was established in 2003 by Helen Ruffin.
• •Selection criteria for books include publication within the last two years, reader appeal, age appropriateness, literary quality, and representation.

Students participating in the program are required to read specific book lists to compete in regional and state-level academic games hosted by the school district and the University of Georgia.