Remember the SLJ Battle of the Kids’ Books? My Internet access has been so limited that I was unable to follow and report on the event as I would have liked, but a friend shared a thing or two along the way, and the World Wide Web is generously holding all the competition posts for me until I can sit down and read them. I’m looking forward to a BoB marathon in the not-too-distant future.

However, I invited people to make predictions here, offering a Stash Surprise prize to the winner, and it’s high time to announce a winner, don’t you think? The event ended, oh, two weeks ago. (Hey, it was only a week ago when I started to write this post.)

I’ll tell ya, the results are not pretty.

There were but two correct picks in round two and none in rounds three or four. Out of a possible 29 points, the scores were 8, 7, and 4. Ouch!

On the other hand, the nature of the competition is such that it’s a total crap shoot. Katherine Paterson says it best: “This is not a choice between apples and oranges, it’s a choice between apples, orangutans, and orchids.” As hard as it is for the judges to compare books, it’s even harder for non-judges to predict the judges’ reasoning and choices. And that’s what makes it so darn fun.

Below is a review of the competition we held here. Correct picks and the points they earned are in bold type.

The SLJ BoB winner is: Marching for Freedom, by Elizabeth Partridge. The complete list of winning books can be found here.

Sondy’s picks:

Round 1

Charles & Emma 1
Fire
The Last Olympian 1
The Lost Conspiracy 1
Marcelo in the Real World
Peace, Locomotion
The Storm in the Barn 1
Tales from Outer Suburbia 1

Round 2
Fire
The Lost Conspiracy 2
Marcelo in the Real World
The Storm in the Barn

Round 3
Fire
Marcelo in the Real World

Round 4
Undead Poll: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Winner: Fire

Becca’s picks:

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

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

Round 3
Fire
Storm In the Barn

Round 4
Undead- Peace, Locomotion
Overall Winner-Fire

My picks:

Round 1
Charles and Emma 1
Fire
The Last Olympian 1
The Lost Conspiracy 1
Marcelo in the Real World
A Season of Gifts 1
Sweethearts of Rhythm
When You Reach Me

Round 2
Fire
The Last Olympian
A Season of Gifts
When You Reach Me

Round 3
Fire
A Season of Gifts

Round 4
Undead: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Winner: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

And that makes our winner…Becca. Woo-hoo, Becca!

I’m going to have fun putting together a Stash Surprise box for you! You’ll get it…um…not exactly soon, but not too long from now. In good time for summer stitching, to be sure.

Thanks, Sondy and Becca, for playing. And thanks, SLJ, for hosting such a fun event. Just wait, I predict next year I’ll get 20 points. You know how good I am at predicting the future.