Thoughts on Round 2

Um... it's Thursday already? Guess it's time to weigh in on the Battle of the (Kids') Books. Here are my (brief) thoughts on the winners. Check out Liz's thoughts on the matches because they are much more complete than my own. Plus, she made up a BotKB drinking game. WIN.

Match 1 pitted The Trouble Begins at 8 against Octavian Nothing Vol. 2 with judge Tim Wynne-Jones presiding. Octavian was the winner. No real surprise there. Everyone hearts Octavian. I still have no desire to pick it up.

Judge Wynne-Jones says this about Octavian:

I cannot say that I gobbled up Octavian Nothing, The Kingdom on the Waves. I read the first half intermittently over a three-month period. I could put it down. But the important thing is that I couldn’t leave it down. It demanded to be read (albeit in a respectful tone, without raising its voice).

Match 2 pitted Chains against Tender Morsels with judge Coe Booth presiding. Chains was victorious (yaaay!) and Coe Booth said this:

As a reader. I want to go on a journey with a character. I want to care about him or her. While Tender Morsels is bold and original and thoroughly memorable, I cared about Isabel. And for that reason, my vote has to go to Chains.

Okay, I haven't read Tender Morsels, but I definitely agree with Judge Booth that Chains took me on a journey with a character I cared about. I loved the book and I'm happy to see that it's getting recognition in this contest since I feel like it was so overlooked in this year's awards.

Match 3 pitted The Hunger Games against We Are the Ship, with judge John Green presiding. Ohhh, thank you, John, for choosing my favorite book of 2008 as your winner! I have high hopes that The Hunger Games might go all the way (and I, along with hundreds of others, would be delighted if that happened!). Judge Green said that The Hunger Games was "the most fun I've had reading in years". And I have to agree.

And Match 4 was announced this morning. It pitted Graceling against The Lincolns with judge Nancy Werlin presiding. I would really have liked to see a Katniss/Katsa throwdown, but alas. It is not to be. Still, I can't begrudge The Lincolns its win, especially when Judge Werlin had this to say:

Reading The Lincolns once or twice isn't enough. I want to study it. I want to flip through it randomly. I need to buy extra copies for friends. I read choice bits aloud to my husband, and soon enough he was reading over my shoulder, and then with awe we were poring over Lincoln's handwriting (his very handwriting!) on the Gettsyburg Address – and then, in the next breath, considering exactly why it was that you couldn’t consider this brilliant, but very pragmatic and ambitious man to be a saint. The material was presented clearly, beautifully, fully, and with respect for the reader’s intelligence and understanding. Reading the book was utterly absorbing, cover to cover.

Now we're getting down to the nitty gritty... Which book will be the champion of them all? Time will tell... As for me, I'm headed off to work. What did you think of this week's matches?

Battle of the (Kids') Books: Second Round Picks

Well, there were certainly some surprises in Round 1 (but this wouldn't be fun if there weren't any upsets, eh?). Let's see how we do for Round 2. You can find an updated bracket on the SLJ BOB Blog (link opens a PDF).

Match 1:
Octavian Nothing Vol. 2 vs. The Trouble Begins at 8, judged by Tim Wynne-Jones.
I honestly have no idea how this one will go, so I guess I have to go with my heart and say that I hope Trouble wins.

Match 2:
Chains vs. Tender Morsels, judged by Coe Booth.
Again, I have no idea (they're so different!), but my heart wishes for Chains to win. (I have it going all the way!)

Match 3:
We Are the Ship vs. The Hunger Games, judged by John Green.
Ohhh, John Green. Please pick The Hunger Games!

Match 4:
Graceling vs. The Lincolns, judged by Nancy Werlin.
I can only hope that Ms. Werlin's recent foray into fantasy was a positive one. I did like The Lincolns and I've stated several times that Candace Fleming is adorable, but I'm rooting for Katsa in Graceling. (Wouldn't it be great to have a Katsa/Katniss showdown?!)

Thoughts about matches 7 & 8

Is it just me or has this week flown by? I can't believe they've announced all the Round 1 winners already!

In Match 7, Graceling faced The Underneath and Tamora Pierce chose Graceling. Personally, I loved both books (in very different ways) and I don't agree with Ms. Pierce's criticism that "it went on too long, meandering too much and losing a great deal of the dramatic tension in the main and secondary stories. Also, the violence and alcoholism are more suited to a YA than a middle grade book, while the characters are definitely middle grade."

But, as Ms. Pierce is the author of a stack of books with kick-butt heroines, it's no surprise to me that Katsa took this round.

Match 8 pitted The Lincolns against Nation with judge Ann Brashares picking The Lincolns for yet another nonfiction win. I have to say, it's great to see nonfiction making such a good showing in the first round. I also have to say that I didn't have a lot of stock in this particular match, although I did see Candace Fleming speak at Anderson's and she's adorable.

Another week, another round! I'll be writing up my picks this weekend!

Thoughts on Matches 3-6

They just keep announcing match results in the Battle of the (Kids) Books!

Match 3 (Chains vs. Washington at Valley Forge) went the way I hoped it would, with Chains taking the win. I don't really have much else to say about this one except that I think Elizabeth Partridge has convinced me to seek out Freedman's book.

Match 4 pitted Here Lies Arthur against Tender Morsels with judge Meg Rosoff picking Tender Morsels for the win. I haven't read either of them (okay, I started Here Lies Arthur, but put it down after 70 pages or so because I just wasn't that into it), but for the sake of my bracket, I'm pleased with Ms. Rosoff's choice. And she may have convinced me to pick up Tender Morsels by saying this:

I was shocked, transfixed, amazed by Tender Morsels. In my opinion, it has blown the lid off the genre. When was the last time you could say that about any book?

Match 5 (The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs. We Are the Ship) was the shock of the day. My poor bracket was blown to smithereens when Rachel Cohn went for the upset and chose We Are the Ship. The one bright side is that this leaves the way open for my personal favorite, The Hunger Games, to take it all! (I am 99% certain that my husband John Green would have picked Frankie over The Hunger Games, but now we'll never have to face that awful scenario!)

And that brings us to Match 6, which almost makes up for the heartbreak that was Match 5:

In The Hunger Games vs. The Porcupine Year, the lovely, wonderful, and talented Ellen Wittlinger picked... THE HUNGER GAMES!!! Which will make these ladies very happy:




We have two more matches left this week and then this weekend I'll make my picks for next week's matches. Whew. What do you think of the round one winners so far? Is your bracket still intact?

Thoughts on Matches 1 and 2

This morning, the winners of the first two matches of the Battle of the (Kids') Books were announced.

In Match 1 (Ways to Live Forever vs. The Kingdom on the Waves) Roger Sutton's pick was no surprise to me. I haven't read either Octavian book and - no offense to MT Anderson or the legions of Octavian fans out there - I have no intention of reading them. Just not my thing, I'm afraid. Maybe someday I'll change my mind.

Some people may get up in arms about a YA book that doesn't have a wide YA readership being chosen, but Roger's reasoning makes perfect sense to me. He says:

It’s a book we didn’t have before and thus offers new possibilities for the books that will come after. I don’t think it will have a wide readership among kids, but it will be read by teachers, librarians, and perhaps most influentially, other writers. What will it allow them to write?

I can get on board with that.

As for Match 2 (The Graveyard Book vs. The Trouble Begins at 8), I'm delighted by Jon Scieszka's upset. I, somewhat begrudgingly, filled in The Graveyard Book to win this match because everyone seems to love it. I liked it. I didn't love it. But I loooooved The Trouble Begins at 8.

Jon Sceiszka writes about the book:

...The Trouble Begins at 8 is a clear winner. It is a thoughtful, funny, scholarly piece of writing. And it just might be the book to rescue one of the funniest American writers ever from the grave of required school reading.

Someone's already commented, lamenting the fact that "Another YA book wins that appeals to adults more than young adults." I'm not sure that's true. I remember reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (albeit, a watered-down, abridged version!) in elementary school and loving it. I really think that if someone had handed me Trouble after that, I would have eaten it up.

So, congrats to the winners and it remains to be seen whether my bracket can be salvaged... ;)

Battle of the (Kids') Books: First Round Picks

Did you fill out your bracket (link opens a PDF)?! The Battle starts tomorrow, so if you haven't, you'd better get crackin'. And without further ado, I give you my first round picks (complete with peanut-gallery-type commentary).

(First of all, I just have to say that it's so hard to make these choices. The books we're comparing are so very different! But I'll give it my best shot.)

Match 1:
Octavian Nothing Vol 2 vs. Ways to Live Forever, judged by Roger Sutton. I liked Ways to Live Forever and I never could get through either of the Octavian Nothing books (maybe someday I will). Now, Horn Book didn't star Octavian and they did star Ways to Live Forever. But I think I've got to give this one to Octavian because everyone gushes about it. It just seems like one of those books that's going to be deemed "better".

Match 2:
The Graveyard Book vs. The Trouble Begins at 8, judged by Jon Scieszka (and yes, I can spell his name without looking it up!). There's no question that I, myself, prefer Trouble. I had a few problems with The Graveyard Book and I just didn't love it. That said, Graveyard is a popular favorite and who doesn't love Neil Gaiman? I have to go with The Graveyard Book on this one.

Match 3:
Chains vs. Washington at Valley Forge, judged by Elizabeth Partridge. Oh, this one is no contest for me. First, I must confess that I hadn't even heard of Washington at Valley Forge before this bracket was released. And a Russell Freedman book that's not getting buzz, well, doesn't that speak for itself? But mostly, I just loved, loved, loved Chains. (So much that I think I've got it going all the way...) So Chains is my definite pick for this one.

Match 4:
Here Lies Arthur vs. Tender Morsels, judged by Meg Rosoff. This was a bit difficult because I haven't read either of the books in question. I started Arthur but put it down because it just wasn't my thing at the time. I'm going with Tender Morsels on the strength of its Printz honor win (and it is being judged by a Printz-winning author...).

Match 5:
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs. We Are the Ship, judged by Rachel Cohn. This is another one that's just no contest for me. I loved Frankie; it was on our Cybils shortlist. I loved a lot of things about We Are the Ship, but I did have a problem with it. And I've got to think that YA fiction author Cohn is going to go with Frankie.

Match 6:
The Hunger Games vs. The Porcupine Year, judged by Ellen Wittlinger. Again, no contest for me. The Hunger Games was my hands-down favorite book of 2008. I even reread it and plan on rereading it again before Catching Fire is released.

Match 7:
Graceling vs. The Underneath, judged by Tamora Pierce. This is a tough one for me because I loved both these books, but in very different ways. Graceling has a kick-butt heroine and adventure and romance and a well-constructed fantasy world. The Underneath has achingly beautiful writing and unforgettable characters. I love them both, but I have to think that Ms. Pierce (author of many a kick-butt fantasy heroine) is going to go with Graceling.

Match 8:
The Lincolns vs. Nation, judged by Ann Brashares. I'm going to go with The Lincolns strictly because I heard Candace Fleming talk about it at an event and she's utterly charming. This one could go either way!

So, there you have my picks for the first round! We'll start finding out the winners tomorrow, so make sure you're tuning in to the Battle of the (Kids') Books Blog and following them on Twitter. Where do you think I've gone wrong? What do you agree with? What are YOUR picks?