YALSA's WrestleMania Reading Challenge required teen and tween participants in grades 5 to 12 to read 10 books, magazines or other items between Teen Read Week -- Oct. 12-18, 2008 -- and Jan. 12, 2009. Each participant was required to submit a reading log that described the items that had been read. Participants could then illustrate and submit a bookmark explaining why reading is important. The winning entry from each library was submitted to YALSA and five regional winners were chosen in grades 5 to 6, 7 to 8 and 9 to 12. More than 1,800 libraries participated in this year's competition. (READ ABOUT THE FINALISTS)

This is the third year YALSA and WWE have held the WrestleMania Reading Challenge, and the first year that Mattel has been a sponsor.

The regional winners for grades 7 to 8 and 9 to 12 will compete to become national champions of their age division and to win ringside tickets to the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania in Houston on April 5. The competition will be a trivia contest. Students in grades 7 to 8 will read Soccer Chick Rules by Dawn Fitzgerald, and finalists in grades 9 to 12 will read Shift by Jennifer Bradbury. The finalists will answer questions about each book posed by WWE Superstars and Divas, with the winner answering the most questions correctly. The regional winners in grades 5 to 6 will be introduced at the finals and will participate in asking questions.

The WrestleMania Reading Challenge provides WWE Superstars and Divas with the opportunity to promote literacy. Thousands of posters featuring WWE Superstars encouraging reading are distributed each year to teachers, libraries students and parents across the United States. WWE and the American Library Association's Young Adult Library Services Association have sponsored the WrestleMania Reading Challenge since 2006 to encourage "reluctant readers" to read more often. In 2007 and 2008, The Challenge, with more than a 1,100 libraries participating, culminated at the WrestleMania Reading Challenge National Finals the weekend of WrestleMania 24 in Orlando, Fla. The program was initially open to grades 9 to 12. However, due to the enthusiasm shown by the children, it was expanded in 2007 to included grades 7 to 8 and in 2008 to include grades 5 to 6.