Booksellers Spell Fun at B-E-A!

Host Myla Goldberg, author of Bee Season and Wickett's Remedy. Chapter and Breathe Spellers The Savvy Spellers Beagle Bay Spellers Winning teams: The Destination Spellers and Women, Children & Spellers First. Photos: Chris Babcock

Spelling bees have become so popular that the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., garners national coverage on ESPN and in other major media, and spelling bees are now the subject of a highly acclaimed documentary, Spellbound, and a Broadway play. No surprise then that -- at a convention of booksellers, publishers, authors, and book aficionados -- the BookSense.com/American Heritage Dictionaries Spelling Bee was packed with word lovers who wanted to see which team of independent booksellers would be crowned spelling champs.

Hosting the event at BookExpo America, on Saturday, June 4, was Myla Goldberg, author of Book Sense Pick Bee Season (Anchor) and Wickett's Remedy, coming from Doubleday in September.

"The event was everything we'd hoped it would be," said Len Vlahos, BookSense.com Director. "It had drama, excitement, and humor, and everyone there seemed to have a really good time."

Participating in the event were five teams made up of two booksellers:

• Savvy Spellers, which teamed Harlan Smith and Sandye Wexler of Savvy Traveler in Chicago;
• Women, Children, & Spellers First, which teamed Linda Boubon and Ann Christophersen of Women & Children First in Chicago;
• Beagle Bay Spellers, which teamed Deane Johnson of Beagle Books in Park Rapids, Minnesota, and Janet Brown of Elliott Bay in Seattle, Washington;
• Chapter and Breathe Spellers, with Susan L. Weis of Breathe Books in Baltimore, Maryland, and Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana;
• Destination Spellers, with Randy Smith and Larry Smith of Destination Books in New Albany, Indiana.

After a perfect two rounds, Goldberg asked if she could skip to some more challenging words and warned the teams that the first two rounds "were the feel-good-about-yourself rounds." Among the words presented to these intrepid spellers were lackadaisical, coelacanth, vichyssoise, schadenfreude, and kwashiorkor. (For definitions, consult your American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.)

Ultimately, the contest ended in a tie between Boubon and Christophersen of Women, Children, & Spellers First and Smith and Smith of Destination Spellers. Each team won a complete set of American Heritage Reference Books, plus a copy of the DVD of Spellbound, and a box of alphabet-shaped pasta.

BookSense.com and American Heritage Dictionaries sponsored the event. All words and definitions were taken from the Fourth Edition of the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.