Reading

SLJ Battle of the (Kids’) Books

It’s back! School Library Journal’s Battle of the (Kids’) Books–aka BoB–gets underway on Monday, March 15. Sixteen of the best books published in 2009 will go head-to-head, being read and judged by celebrities of KidLit. There will be a match every weekday until one book stands alone on April 5.

I’m going to pay close attention this year because next year, I think we should have a Battle of the Bookmarks–maybe simultaneously. (Are you listening, Alan?)

The Opening Ceremony is on now. I recommend using the weekend to get the lay of the land before the battle starts.

There are a couple of ways you can participate. First, vote in the Undead Poll. This poll will enable one book that gets eliminated to return in the final round. So, if you have a favorite, vote for it here in case it gets eliminated by some misguided judge. I really hope my pick doesn’t need to be Undead.

Next, make your predictions and fill out a bracket. I’ll post mine here on Sunday. Anyone want to make it interesting? Say…winner gets some sort of stash surprise?

Here’s the deal: Fill out the entire bracket. We’re not re-setting rounds once we know winners; we’re picking them all up front. If all your first-round picks go down, well, we’ll call your score “love,” how’s that? You get one point for each correct pick in Round 1, two points for each correct pick in Round 2, three points for each correct pick in Round 3, and four points for a correct pick in Round 4. Yes, you should pick an Undead Book for round 4. Your Undead Book pick is worth three points if you get it right.

Post your picks in the comments on Sunday.

If one of you wins, I’ll send you a stash surprise, but not until the end of April. If I win, all players will have to PAY…me a compliment. In the event of a tie, we’ll turn to the handy random number generator.

What? You haven’t read all those books? Gasp!

So? Me neither. Not yet, anyway. While I anticipate reading them all, I don’t think having them read by Monday provides that much advantage. It’s more useful to be a mind-reader or maybe to think about the judges’ own books to get a sense of their tastes. Or pick the books with the longest titles, or the most vowels, or best covers.

Uh-oh. Am I giving away my March Madness secrets?

Categories: Reading

4 replies »

  1. I posted my picks here: http://sonderbooks.com/blog/?p=1297 Hm. But maybe I’ll make a different list than I posted on Eric’s blog, to increase my chances! Okay, I will predict the following:

    R1M1: Charles & Emma
    R1M2: Fire
    R1M3: The Last Olympian
    R1M4: The Lost Conspiracy
    R1M5: Marcelo in the Real World
    R1M6: Peace, Locomotion
    R1M7: The Storm in the Barn
    R1M8: Tales from Outer Suburbia

    R2M1: Fire
    R2M2: The Lost Conspiracy
    R2M3: Marcelo in the Real World
    R2M4: The Storm in the Barn

    R3M1: Fire
    R3M2: Marcelo in the Real World

    Undead Poll: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
    Winner: Fire

    There, that’s quite different from my other list! I wonder which one will be closer!

  2. Here are my predictions (guesses, more like)

    Round 1
    Charles and Emma
    Fire
    The Last Olympian
    The Lost Conspiracy
    Marching for Freedom
    A Season of Gifts
    The Storm in the Barn
    When You Reach Me

    Round 2
    Fire
    Lost Conspiracy
    Season of Gifts
    Storm in the Barn

    Round 3
    Fire
    Storm In the Barn

    Round 4
    Undead- Peace, Locomotion
    Overall Winner-Fire