I’ve been sick, so you won’t see as many of my comments in the Round Two of School Library Journal’s Battle of the Kids’ Books. However, I simply had to check and see how my favorites had done in Round Two. And Surprise, Surprise! This time ALL my picks won! (This is the advantage to picking after the first round finishes. The picks I made on Eric Carpenter’s blog before the tournament have mostly all fallen out of the competition.)
As always, there’s some brilliant analysis from the celebrity author judges. I don’t have to revise my opinion that I gave last week. My favorite in the top half is The Cardturner, with Keeper close behind, so I won’t be too sad if Keeper wins, while rooting for The Cardturner.
My favorite in the bottom half is The Ring of Solomon. I haven’t read Trash yet, but I definitely plan to. There’s some talk that The Ring of Solomon didn’t get its due this year. To some extent I agree, because it’s a brilliant, clever, well-crafted novel. However, Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus Trilogy was such a towering work of genius, it makes The Ring of Solomon less impressive by comparison. Still excellent, though!
Great stuff! If you enjoy kids’ books at all, I highly recommend following the Battle of the Kids’ Books!