Pikesville High School Student Wins 2025 Battle of the Books

A personal connection with the main character of "Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe" helped Pikesville High School senior Tabatha Davage win this year's high school Battle of the Books competition. Competing against 163 student entries, Tabatha created a poem and artwork inspired by her interpretation of the graphic novel by Lindsay S. Zrull. In recognition of her achievement, she received a $100 Visa gift card and earned bragging rights as the competition's winner.

“I was inspired by the idea of masking one’s true self behind strength and resilience. Like the protagonist, I have struggled with identity and the pressure to be 'unbreakable.' This led me to write a poem titled 'Unmasking Myself,' which intertwines the main character’s story with my own,” said Davage in her written artist’s statement. “I often felt like I had to hide my true identity behind a false persona because I was adopted around five days old, and never knowing what I am or who I am really destroyed my identity, because I didn't know who I was. Jess's story showed me that I was not alone and provided different ways to cope or deal with my struggles.” 

You can hear Tabatha read the poem on our YouTube page. 

Runners-Up 

This year, our judges chose to award two runners-up: Stella Burnham, a freshman at Parkville High School, and Zariah Smithwick, a senior from Kenwood High School. Each received $50 Visa gift cards for winning the branch battles and a copy of the book that inspired their submissions. 

Battle of the Books Competition

Battle of the Books is a reading-incentive, book-based competition for elementary, middle and high school students featuring Black-Eyed Susan Award books. The high school competition requires individual, expressive art submissions from students. These written works, images, audio clips or videos are based on any of the high school Battle of the Books titles. Each work of art must be submitted with an artist’s statement, which details their creative process and intended message.  

Black-Eyed Susan Award Books 

If you’re interested in reading one of the books our participants had to choose from, select the cover of the book to place a hold.

Acknowledgements 

Thank you to the incredible number of students who participated in this year’s high school competition! Our appreciation goes to the many BCPS library media specialists, teachers and staff who supported these students throughout this school year with months of reading, discussion and project development.  

Look for more information about the 2025 to 2026 Battle of the Books competition in October 2025.