Review of My First Day, by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

My First Day

What Animals Do on Day One

by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, Boston, 2013. 32 pages.
Starred Review

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Steve Jenkins’ work, having named three of his books Sonderbooks Stand-outs. I love the way he combines amazingly detailed and realistic cut-paper artwork with scientific facts about the world.

My First Day gets extra bonus points for being way too cute. The book features twenty-two specific types of animals — for example, not just a tiger, but a Siberian tiger, not just a turtle, but a leatherback turtle — and tells us what they do on their very first day.

The range is wide. A capybara can swim and dive when it’s just a few hours old. A polar bear cub sleeps in a snow den with its mother until Spring. A blue wildebeest trots along with its mother, because its herd is on the move.

One thing I love about this book is the pacing and pictures and subject matter are all perfect for preschoolers or early elementary school kids. Yet it’s serious nonfiction, and fascinating information that I didn’t even know until I read the book. What a wonderful way to get a child hooked on nonfiction!

Here’s an example set of pages, to give an idea of the gentle pacing:

On my first day, my mother held me close so I wouldn’t drift out to sea.

I dozed on her belly while she floated in the waves.

sea otter

On my first day, I raced to the water.

The beach was a dangerous place, and I was on my own as soon as I hatched.

leatherback turtle

Combined with the gentle text, imagine detailed, realistic, yet adorable illustrations of the baby in question with or without its parent, as appropriate. And to cap it all off, the last baby featured is the polar bear cub, who tells us, on its first day, “I fell asleep.”

For older, inquiring minds, there are end notes that tell a little more about each creature, so you don’t have to end on that cozy, perfect-bedtime-story finish. This book will work for a wide range of ages, but will be especially perfect for getting the youngest listeners hooked on nonfiction.

I’m posting this review today in honor of Nonfiction Monday, hosted today by Pierogies & Gyoza.

hmhbooks.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/my_first_day.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from the Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Sondy for Newbery!

It’s official! I’m on the ballot for next year’s Newbery committee!

Here I am at the 2010 Newbery Banquet. I’m such a Newbery-geek, any contact with the awards process thrills me!

Here’s the scoop. Each year, a committee chooses the “most distinguished contribution” to American literature for children. The committee is made up of fifteen people, eight of whom are voted on by members of ALSC, the Children’s Services division of the American Library Association. There are sixteen names on the ballot.

Why should you vote for me, Sondra Eklund?

Besides being an avid reader of children’s books all my life, I’ve been writing book reviews in Sonderbooks since 2001, thinking about why certain books are good.

When I discovered Heavy Medal blog a few years ago, and they posted the Newbery criteria and guidelines, I couldn’t keep myself from printing out and reading every word. I realized then how much the whole thing fascinated me. Since then, I avidly follow Heavy Medal, and have learned much from Jonathan and Nina about the Newbery Medal and the process of choosing the winners.

When ALA offered online classes, I took one on the Newbery Medal, one on the Caldecott Medal, and one on the Printz Award.

Last January, I had the privilege of attending the William Morris Seminar, an entire day of training about the process of book evaluation committees. I’m ready to carry out what I’ve learned!

Last year, I joined Capitol Choices, a DC-area group that chooses about a hundred of the best children’s books of the year. They meet monthly to discuss great books, and it gave me practice being in a formal book-discussion setting.

Last year I also got to be a first round judge for the Cybils Awards, in the category of Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction. I figured it would help me find out if I like spending all my spare time intensely reading children’s books. (I loved it!)

I’m involved in ALSC, a member of the Children and Technology Committee for the past two years.

I am currently Youth Services Manager at City of Fairfax Regional Library, a large public library in northern Virginia. Last year, I started a Mock Newbery Club. I hope to keep it up to get feedback on how actual kids feel about the new books being published.

In 2008, 2009, and now 2013, I’ve been on our county’s Summer Reading Selection committee, selecting a list of books to promote for Summer Reading.

What’s more, this would be a great time in my life to devote to children’s books. My youngest son just headed off to college, so I’m living alone. I’m moving into a lovely new home next month. No more cooking and cleaning for kids! I am ready to devote all those spare hours to reading children’s books! 🙂

So, any ALSC members out there, make my dream come true! Vote for Sondra Eklund for Newbery Committee!

And Thank You from the bottom of my heart!

Review of Chloe and the Lion, by Mac Barnett and Adam Rex

Chloe and the Lion
by Mac Barnett
Pictures by Adam Rex

Disney Hyperion Books, New York, 2012. 48 pages.
Starred Review

Meta-fiction does not always work, but Chloe and the Lion is joining the ranks of great meta-fiction picture books, along with David Wiesner’s The Three Pigs, Mo Willems’ We Are in a Book!, and even The Monster at the End of This Book, by Jon Stone.

The art is ever-so-interesting, mostly a three-dimensional scene made from paper cut-outs, but it includes plasticine figures of the author and illustrator. They introduce themselves and tell us about Chloe, who saves nickels and dimes to ride on the merry-go-round on the weekend.

The story is on the bizarre side…

But one week, Chloe found a lot of change.
So she was able to buy a lot of tickets.
And she rode around and around and around.
Which was why she got very dizzy.
And that’s how Chloe ended up lost in the forest.

We read that a huge lion leapt out at Chloe from behind an oak tree, but in the picture we see a dragon, with smoke coming from its nostrils.

The author and illustrator have it out. Adam, the illustrator, thinks that a dragon is much cooler than a lion. In the end, Mac has no choice but to fire Adam and find someone else to illustrate the book. Once the illustrator has been changed, “The first thing the lion did was walk up to Adam and swallow him whole.”

Unfortunately, the new artist, Hank Blowfeather, just isn’t as good as Adam. And when Mac tries to draw instead? Disaster!

So, Chloe and Mac need to figure out a way to get Adam out of the belly of the lion and save the book. And a thank-you at the end would be nice, too.

This is another book where description simply doesn’t do it justice. There are visual jokes throughout, a wide variety of styles, and a lot of thought about how a story works. This is a book worth reading again and again.

Oh, and I’ll have to add it to my Pinterest board: Picture Books Where Someone Gets Eaten! (Even if it’s not permanent, getting swallowed whole counts. Maybe I should put it on the Eating Thwarted page, too.)

Meta-fiction at its finest!

macbarnett.com
adamrex.com
disneyhyperionbooks.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/chloe_and_the_lion.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from the Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Battle of the Books First Week Report

The first week of School Library Journal’s Battle of the Books has finished up, and the first half of the first round matches. I predicted these matches. How’d I do?

My success rate is only 50%. However, I am not discouraged! Because the two books I want to win the second round were the two I got right. So my hopes for the second round still stand.

What’s more, I only this week got started reading Endangered, the one book in the battle I hadn’t yet read. So I’m kind of glad it’s still around, and think I can safely say I’ll be finished before it competes again.

Once again this year, I made a display with little book covers, and I’m moving the book covers in the brackets based on who wins. (Sorry, it’s at the library. I should have taken a picture!) Losers go to the bottom, until one comes back from the dead. Today I wore my SLJ BoB t-shirt from 2010, when they gave t-shirts to anyone who blogged about the Battle.

I’ve enjoyed the judges so far. I forgive them for using The Format (see the first commenter at a Read Roger post), because they’ve had good things to say in the body of the decision.

Personally, I don’t fault the judges for praising both books in each match. They’re excellent books, okay? I appreciate that they took some time; they pointed out things about the books I hadn’t necessarily noticed. If you haven’t read the books, you’re going to find many reasons for doing so. If you have read them, you get to see them through another author’s eyes.

I do hope someone will mix it up a little and not talk about the losing book first, though.

I’m probably happiest with Margarita Engle, simply because she praised my favorite book, Code Name Verity, and quoted beautiful lines and reminded me of why I love it so much.

Speaking of judging books, (clever transition there?) today I saw that it’s really official: My name is on the ballot for next year’s Newbery Committee! Squee!

Now, mind you, there are 16 names on the ballot for only 8 positions. And voting opens next week and continues for more than a month, so I’m going to be tense about it for quite awhile. Sometime soon, I will make a post about why voting for me is a good idea and why I am a great choice for the job. For now, I’ll just beg: Any ALSC members out there, make my dream come true! Vote for me! Vote for me!

Review of The Fellowship for Alien Detection

The Fellowship for Alien Detection

by Kevin Emerson

Walden Pond Press (HarperCollins), March 2013. 428 pages.

Science Fiction stories with aliens aren’t really my thing, but they were very much my son’s thing, so I have a soft spot for them still. When my now-25-year-old son was much younger, Bruce Coville was his favorite author, particularly the My Teacher Is an Alien books. The Fellowship for Alien Detection has similar themes, with kids the only ones able to figure out an alien plot to take over the world.

The book was on the long side for me, but I think kids who like the alien theme will find that a bonus. Two middle-school kids from opposite sides of the country, Haley and Dodger, have been given a fellowship to spend the summer investigating their own theories about alien activity on earth. Haley has been investigating missing time events, associated with missing people. Dodger has been hearing strange broadcasts from a town called Juliette. The broadcasts are always from the same day.

As they travel to suspicious sites, soon they seem to be under suspicion by sinister forces. Neither Haley’s nor Dodger’s parents realize the danger their children are in for. If they investigate further, will they be kidnapped by aliens as well? What will happen to the missing people of Juliette? What will happen to planet Earth?

The plot of this book is fairly complex, with each kid piecing together clues before they come together, as well as the reader getting glimpses of what’s going on in Juliette.

I recently read lots and lots of Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy books for the 2012 Cybils Awards, and, believe it or not, I didn’t read anything like this book — a good, basic, kids-watching-out-for-aliens story that my son would have loved. If any kids at my library come looking for a book about aliens, I know exactly what to put in their hands.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/fellowship_for_alien_detection.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on an Advance Review Copy sent to me by the publisher.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I write the posts for my website and blogs entirely on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Glad No Matter What, by SARK

Glad No Matter What

Transforming Loss and Change into Gift and Opportunity

by SARK

New World Library, 2010. 224 pages.
Starred Review

Even though this is a book about dealing with loss and change, this is a truly joyous and exuberant book. I love SARK’s use of color and art in her pages.

She puts it well right at the beginning:

This is NOT a book about feeling glad when you don’t.
How annoying.
This is a book about finding and living from the glad parts in all of your feelings.

There’s so much wisdom in these pages. Stories. Insights. Encouragement. I’ll post a few more excerpts to give you the idea, but remember that if you read the book, you have the addition of SARK’s wonderful colors and fonts and interesting emphases.

I’ve seen and experienced over and over that grief and loss are always doorways to transformation.

My experiences with both have showed me that we can more actively work with time as we process grief and loss, instead of just waiting for time to pass. We really can consciously practice integrating loss and grief and living with them more fully and beautifully.

I know now that this healing happens in spirals and layers and NOT in steps like a ladder.

We cycle back around and start over, get stuck in the middle, and sometimes get to what feels like the end quickly.

We can weave all of these experiences together into an eventually elegant tapestry. I’ve been speaking with lots of people about the subjects of loss and grief, and it’s clear that in every case, whatever has been lost — job, savings, home, health, money, life — has tremendous gifts and opportunities to offer

if

we do our transformational work.

When we are caring for ourselves, we discover that there is actually plenty of time and energy to care for others and the world too. It is not negatively “selfish” to care for yourself brilliantly and exquisitely. In fact, as you fill your own well from the inside and tend to yourself with great love, it will naturally and effortlessly “spill over” for others to appreciate and utilize.

When you see someone who radiantly glows from within, you are seeing a self-caring soul. This kind of self-care is a living example to be inspired by, so that you can live that way also.

The opposite of old is not young.
The opposite of old is new.
As long as we continue to experience
the new, we will gloriously
inhabit all of the ages that we are.”

In short, I was so happy and supported to read this book after dealing with the loss and change of divorce and then a stroke. So I am convinced this is a wonderful book for after you’ve experienced loss and change, but I believe it would also be wonderful to read during loss and change. And I’m convinced it would be beautiful preparation to read it before loss and change happen to you (and they will). So we’re left with the fact that any time is a good time to read this encouraging book. I recommend reading it slowly, like I did, dipping in to it a part at a time and savoring what you find there.

planetsark.com
newworldlibrary.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/glad_no_matter_what.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on my own personal copy, purchased via Amazon.com.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Runaway King, by Jennifer A. Nielsen

The Runaway King

by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Scholastic Press, New York, 2013. 331 pages.
Starred Review

The Runaway King is the sequel to Cybils-winning The False Prince, and I like it even better than the first book. Yes, you should probably read them in order, mainly because this book gives away some things from the first book. In fact, you probably shouldn’t read my review until you’ve read the first book. You do not have to vividly remember what happened in the first book to read this one, because crucial information is filled in without being tedious.

Jaron’s life is threatened right at the start of the book. The pirates who were hired to kill him are upset that they failed. If they don’t get him, they’re going to attack all of Carthya. Other neighboring countries are threatening as well, but Jaron’s regents don’t want to let him prepare for war.

The title is something of a misnomer, because Jaron never runs. He decides to pretend to be pouting in safety, but instead he’s going to head to the pirates and deal with them. How will he deal with them? That’s what this book is about.

I do think I’m going to need to reread the book to decide if I think Jaron is more clever or more lucky. His plot was rather complex, and I got the impression things didn’t go as he planned them — but there was still at least one major surprise for me regarding his intentions, and I enjoyed that. (Is that obtuse enough to not give anything away?)

I love the way Jaron compulsively tells the truth. The reader can see him doing it as he goes and watch people “misunderstand” his words with his careful misdirection. And how much do we readers misunderstand? I’m going to have to reread it just to figure that out.

The story still isn’t finished; trouble looms at the end of the book. But this is one of the more satisfying second books I’ve read in awhile. The story in this book has a nice beginning, middle, and end, and isn’t simply an unfinished continuation.

This book, like its predecessor, begs comparison with Megan Whalen Turner’s Queen’s Thief series. This one actually doesn’t suffer by the comparison (which is high praise coming from me!). Jaron doesn’t seem as in control of his complicated plan as Gen would be, but he also is in a more precarious situation to start with. He’s a younger king than Gen, and he’s growing into his kingship. Watching him do so is a delight to read.

jennielsen.com
scholastic.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/runaway_king.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from the Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Sonderling Sunday – Neverending, Unendliche

It’s Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books — or the English translation of German children’s books.

Last week, my Sonderling Sunday post was interrupted when I found out the offer I’d made on a new home was accepted, and I was way too distracted to continue. (I’m so excited! It’s a lovely condo with a lake view! And my very first home purchase!)

So this week, I’ll continue where I left off in Die unendliche Geschichte, by Michael Ende, translated into English as The Neverending Story

About all I’d covered last time was the snorkeled letters on the door of the shop. This is the section before the chapters with large alphabet illustrations. I didn’t mention that in the German edition, this section is in red type, while the later chapters are in green type. The English version has this section in italics.

Continuing on, listing German first, because that’s the original language:

regenfleckige Mauer = “rain-splotched wall”

da? eine kleine Traube von Messingglöckchen, die über hing, aufgeregt zu bimmeln begann
= “that a little cluster of brass bells tinkled wildly”
(literally: “that a little bunch of grapes of little brass bells, that hung over it, excited to jingle began”)

Der Urheber dieses Tumult = “The cause of this hubbub”

durchweicht = “soaked” (“through-wet”)

Schulmappe = “school satchel”

Dämmerlicht = “half-light” (“twilight”)

mannshohen = “shoulder-high” (“man-high”)

I like this one:
Rauchkringel = “ring of smoke”

Es zieht = “There’s a draft.” (“It attracts.”)

in einem hohem Ohrenbackensessel aus abgewetztem Leder
= “in a high worn leather wing chair”
(“in a high Ears-back-chair of threadbare leather”)
“Wing chair” or “Ears chair”? I kind of like the latter!

Büschel = “outcroppings”

bissigen Bulldogge = “vicious bulldog” (“biting bulldog”)

knollenförmigen Nase = “bulbous nose” (“tuber-formed nose”)

Oh, I like this word!
Mundwinkel = “corner of his mouth” (“mouth angle”)

A new expression to try:
Ach du liebes Bi?chen! = “Goodness gracious.” (“Oh dear little bit!”)

ein Mordsgetue = “a terrible fuss” (“a murder-to-do”)

I probably shouldn’t challenge you to use this sentence:
Ich bin ganz and gar kein Kinderfreund.
= “I simply have no use for children.”
(“I am completely and totally no child-friend.”)

Oh, goody! More insults! (Always the most fun)

blöde Schreihälse = “screaming”
(“stupid screamnecks” — I guess the translator didn’t want to be so rude.)

Quälgeister = “torturing people”
(“spirits of torment”)

die alles kaputt machen = “breaking things”
(“who make everything broken”)

die die Bücher mit Marmelade vollschmieren = “smearing books with jam”
(“who the books with jam fully smear”)

die Seiten zerrei?en = “tearing the pages”

die sich den Teufel darum scheren, ob die Erwachsenen vielleicht auch ihre Sorgen und Kümmernisse haben
= “It never dawns on them that grown-ups may also have their troubles and cares.”
(“who don’t give a damn that adults possibly also have their worries and cares.”)

seine Lektüre fort = “went on reading”
(Interesting! Lektüre means reading, not talking. I bet that’s how the English word “lecture” started out.)

Here’s a fun expression, and a tongue-twister, to boot:
Manieren hast du nicht für fünf Pfennig = “Where are your manners?”
(“Manners have you not for five pennies.”)

dich verspotten = “make fun of you”

Spinner = “Screwball” (“spider”)

Mondkalb = “nitwit” (“mooncalf”)

Aufschneider = “braggart” (“out-cutter”)

Schwindler = “liar”

Love those sch- words!
schlurfte = “shuffled”

dumpfes Gemurmel = “low mumbling”

Unwiderrufliches = “irrevocable”

wunderschöne, gro?e Anfangsbuchstaben
= “large, beautiful capital letters at the beginning of the chapters”
(I love it! German has a word for “capital letters at the beginning of the chapters”)

eigentümlich verschlungenen Buchstaben = “strangely intricate letters”
(“strangely inter-snaked letters”)

I’ll stop tonight where Bastian reads the name of the book he has discovered:
Die unendliche Geschichte

Summing up, I think the best new word of the night was Anfangsbuchstaben.

Most fun to say: schlurfte

Hardest to say: Manieren hast du nicht für fünf Pfennig

Cutest word: bimmeln

Biggest change of perspective: Ohrenbackensessel

Best insult: blöde Schreihälse

Worst insult: die die Bücher mit Marmelade vollschmieren

Again, go out and practice your new vocabulary! If only in the form of a dumpfes Gemurmel.

Review of Chloe, by Peter McCarty

Chloe

by Peter McCarty

Balzer + Bray, 2012. 36 pages.
Starred Review

Hooray! Another big family picture book! Chloe is the middle child in her family of rabbits. She has ten older brothers and sisters and ten younger brothers and sisters. And, more realistically than in Another Brother, even though they are rabbits, Chloe’s siblings are pictured as different sizes and different ages.

But this isn’t a story about having too many siblings. This is a story about having fun.

Chloe loved the end of the day, when her whole family was together. She called it family fun time.

But her father brings home a new television. When the whole family except Chloe and little Bridget watch TV, Chloe thinks it’s the worst family fun time ever.

But then Bridget finds the bubble wrap. . . .

Pop! Pap! Thip! Bip! Pop!

This is a simple story, about how doing simple things together can be the most fun at all. Peter McCarty’s wonderful illustrations are what make this a stand-out. Even though there are 21 siblings and two parents, each rabbit is portrayed as an individual. I love the way little Bridget imitates Chloe’s gestures and expressions. I love the way the character on TV looks over at Chloe and her brothers and sisters having fun. I love the way Dad stays up popping bubble wrap after everyone’s in bed, and I love the way the baby in the crib is the only child not asleep.

I complain sometimes (a little tongue-in-cheek) that with all the quest for diversity in children’s literature, big families simply aren’t well-represented. Well, here’s a picture book where the big family isn’t the point, isn’t held up as strange. The big family is what it is. This is a simple story about having fun.

[I also love that it’s a book that celebrates the fun of popping bubble wrap. Did you know those bubbles are called utricles? It was featured on my 365 Words a Year calendar one day when I was in college, and my officemate and I used to gloat over any opportunity to pop utricles.]

petermccarty.net
harpercollinschildrens.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/chloe.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from the Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

SLJ BoB is Here!

It’s that time of year! School Library Journal’s Battle of the Books is starting up! (I keep hearing this rumbling that other tournaments happen in March, but I’ve never heard about anything so exciting.)

What is SLJ’s Battle of the Books? The stellar Battle Commanders and Commentator choose 16 of the best children’s books of the previous year and arrange them in tournament brackets. The judges are distinguished children’s and young adult authors. Their tales of their travails while judging are my favorite part of the battle (unlike Roger Sutton). The judges usually manage to make an entertaining and brilliant commentary, playing off themes or styles from the books they judged.

And until tomorrow, you can still vote in the Undead Poll for one book, if slighted by the judges, to come back from the dead for the Big Kahuna Round at the end.

But enough about the details! Let’s talk about the books!

This year, by the time the books were announced, I’d read 15 of the 16 books, a new record. (No, I take that back. I was halfway through Bomb.) I still haven’t read Endangered, but it’s next on my TBR pile, so I might (maybe?) finish it before its match on March 14.

What’s more, not only have I read 15 of the books, I’ve reviewed all 15. Now, I only review books I like, and in previous years, let’s just say that I did not review all of the Battle books. Okay, a few of the reviews are not glowing. But I still liked them enough to review them. What’s more, out of the fifteen I’ve read, nine made my 2012 Sonderbooks Stand-outs. Two of the remaining six (Bomb and Three Times Lucky) I didn’t read until 2013, but they are highly likely to be 2013 Sonderbooks Stand-outs. So it’s pretty clear I like their choices this year.

Here are the first round match-ups with my pick listed first:

Match One, judged by Kenneth Oppel:
Wonder vs Bomb
This one’s a toughie. Bomb is probably the more excellently crafted book. But, doggone it, hasn’t it gotten enough awards? The Sibert, the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction, Newbery Honor, oh my! Shouldn’t Wonder at least win a round in Battle of the Books?

Mind you, whichever book wins Match One, I want to win the first round only, because look what’s in the second match:

Match Two, judged by Margarita Engle:
Code Name Verity vs. Titanic: Voices from the Disaster
Sorry, Titanic. I liked you enough to name you #3 Sonderbooks Stand-out in Children’s Nonfiction. But Code Name Verity was my favorite book read in 2012, and that hasn’t changed. Yes, this was also my pick in the Undead Poll, but I don’t really want it to win that way. I want every judge to acknowledge its brilliance. However, I realize not all judges are so perspicacious. We shall see how they do in acknowledging greatness.

Match Three, judged by Kathi Appelt
Three Times Lucky vs. Endangered
Yes, I realize this isn’t fair, since Endangered is the one book I haven’t read yet. But I have a soft spot for Three Times Lucky, and I find myself hoping I don’t like Endangered as much. (Though it would be fun to see Endangered go up against The One and Only Ivan in a later round. If only for the cartoon SLJ’s artist would draw.)

Match Four, judged by Deb Caletti
The Fault in Our Stars vs. Temple Grandin
Again, I’m sorry, Temple Grandin. It’s not that I don’t like nonfiction. But I did think The Fault in Our Stars was wonderful. And this is another case where I’d like to see a stellar book get a bit more recognition. I notice The Fault in Our Stars was #9 in Teen Fiction on my Sonderbooks Stand-outs, but Temple Grandin was #8 in Children’s Nonfiction. So I have to admit that #9 in Teen Fiction is higher in my affections than #8 in Children’s Nonfiction. So sue me.

Speaking of Stars:

Match Five, judged by Adam Gidwitz
Starry River of the Sky vs. Jepp, Who Defied the Stars
My affection for Starry River of the Sky is mingled with admiration for what a sweet person Grace Lin is, since I got to hear her speak at KidLitCon last year. But I also not only read Starry River of the Sky, I also listened to it, and that made me appreciate its structure and craft even more than the first reading. Jepp? Well, I did review it, and I only review books I like…. But I want Starry River of the Sky to come out of this match shining.

Match Six, judged by Franny Billingsley
Liar & Spy vs. Splendors & Glooms
I don’t think my ranking here will surprise anyone. Liar & Spy was a 2012 Sonderbooks Stand-out, but Splendors & Glooms was not. Now, Splendors & Glooms is much more similar to Franny Billingsley’s books, all atmospheric and creepy and magical, than Liar & Spy is. But my first year when I tried to predict Battle of the Books choices by thinking judges would pick books similar to their own, I got them all wrong. My current theory is that judges are quicker to see flaws in books like their own, or are perhaps extra admiring of someone who pulls off a book they could never write. So I hope Franny Billingsley will agree with me.

Match Seven, judged by Marie Lu
Seraphina vs Moonbird
Okay, I admit, this time it looks like I’m simply choosing fiction over nonfiction. Because Moonbird was a 2012 Sonderbooks Stand-out, but Seraphina wasn’t. And Moonbird was #9 in its category, and Seraphina was in a much tougher category, fantasy for teens. I’d always have a hard time rooting against a good fantasy novel for teens.

Match Eight, judged by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
The One and Only Ivan vs. No Crystal Stair
Sorry, but no contest here. Count me an Ivan fan. Again, my ranking in Sonderbooks Stand-outs is telling: The One and Only Ivan was #2 in Children’s Fiction, but No Crystal Stair, while reviewed, was not a Stand-out.

On reflection, I’m pretty lucky with the first round — few of my favorites are pitted against one another. But I’m setting up to be much more upset if any of my favorites lose!

Now, I’ll make new predictions for Round Two, but just a run-down on how it would go if I got to judge all the matches:

Code Name Verity would win every match in which it appears.

The Fault in Our Stars would win the second round before succumbing to Code Name Verity‘s brilliance. Though I must admit, I’d cheer for Mo if Three Times Lucky pulled off a win.

In the bottom half of the tournament, I’m almost counting on one of my favorites not advancing, so I won’t have to choose between Starry River of the Sky and Liar & Spy, though I’d probably go with Starry River of the Sky. But I would want Ivan to win all its matches until it faces Code Name Verity.

For the book coming back from the dead, I’m hoping it won’t be necessary for Code Name Verity to be resurrected, making it a match-up with Code Name Verity, The Fault in Our Stars, and The One and Only Ivan, with, you know it, Code Name Verity coming out on top. (It’s gotten enough Honor! Time to WIN!)

But believe me, I don’t expect the judges will see it my way. They never do!

How about you? What are your picks? (Links to blog posts are good, too!)