2017 Riddle Family Summer Reading Contest

The 2017 Riddle Family summer reading contest started last Thursday (June 1). We began this annual contest about a decade ago to encourage family reading over the summer. We homeschool, but not year-round, taking a summer break June-August. The reading contest has gotten to be a favorite family tradition. Each year we have a family meeting on the eve of the start date, tweak the rules, post them on a bulletin board, along with a reading sign-up sheet for each family member, and get started. The “prize” is a double scoop of ice cream, usually enjoyed at Chaps on the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville (everyone else gets a single scoop), along with the much-coveted unlimited bragging rights throughout the year, typically generously (if not always charitably) employed by the winner. Our eleven-year old has won for two straight summers, last year reading over 3,000 pages during the course of the two-month contest, so he will be hard to overcome, but we are all going to give it a try.

The Rules

1.  This competition shall be for the members of the Riddle household of North Garden, Virginia.  It shall also include family members who live outside the United States.

2.  This contest shall commence on Thursday, June 1, 2017 and end on Tuesday, August 1, 2017.

3.  Contestants must keep a record of books read with the following information: (1) author; (2) title; (3) publisher and publication date; (4) page numbers; and (5) date completed. Note:  Contestants may read books for the contest which they have previously read, but they may only count half of the pages in the book toward their total. The reading contest will be conducted under the Riddle honor system., which means that we trust each contestant to keep a fair and accurate record of all books read, in their entirety. If someone asks a contestant to summarize any book he lists as read, he must be willing and able to do so.

4.  Books must be at least 100 pages in length to be added to the reading total.

5.  The overall prize will be given in only one category: most total pages read.

6.  The winner will receive a double scoop of ice cream of their choice during a family trip to an ice cream shop after August 1, 2017.  He or she will also have unlimited bragging rights until the summer reading contest of 2018.

JTR