{"id":8579,"date":"2012-03-01T13:47:06","date_gmt":"2012-03-01T17:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=8579"},"modified":"2012-03-01T14:30:18","modified_gmt":"2012-03-01T18:30:18","slug":"battle-of-the-kids-books-is-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=8579","title":{"rendered":"Battle of the Kids’ Books is Coming!"},"content":{"rendered":"

My post is up<\/a> on School Library Journal’s Battle of the Kids’ Books (SLJsBoB) website<\/a>!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In that post, I told my reasons for loving SLJsBoB and how much fun it is to participate through reading the books and commenting.<\/p>\n

Here, I will point out that you still have time to read the books before the competition begins on March 13th! Don’t delay! It’s lots of fun! Here are the Brackets<\/a> with the books that will be competing.<\/p>\n

Now, I hadn’t seen the Brackets before I wrote the post that’s up today. So now I will point out that Amelia Lost<\/a><\/em>, Chime<\/a><\/em>, Daughter of Smoke and Bone<\/a><\/em>, Drawing from Memory<\/a><\/em>, and Okay for Now<\/a><\/em> are all 2011 Sonderbooks Stand-outs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Interesting! I only now noticed that all of these Sonderbooks Stand-outs are in different first-round pairings from each other. So I don’t need to tell you which book I will root for in those pairings. I’m going to go with my Stand-out every time.<\/p>\n

Now, I only have four more books to read before the Battle starts. Most of them I will try to review before March 13th. Based on what I’ve read now, my picks for the remaining pairings will be:<\/p>\n

Match Two: Between Shades of Gray<\/em> vs Bootleg<\/em>. I haven’t read Between Shades of Gray<\/em> yet, and Bootleg<\/em> was very good, so I’ll pick Bootleg<\/em> with the caveat that this pick may very well change after I read the other book. I think that judge Gayle Forman’s books are more similar to Between Shades of Gray<\/em>, but I have found that often judges pick the book least like the ones they write. (With lots of exceptions, though.)<\/p>\n

Match Six: Heart and Soul<\/em> vs Inside Out and Back Again<\/em>. Again, I haven’t read Inside Out and Back Again<\/em>, and Heart and Soul<\/em> is amazing. So I’ll go with Heart and Soul<\/em> unless Inside Out and Back Again<\/em> blows me away, which it may.<\/p>\n

Match Seven: Life: An Exploded Diagram<\/em> vs A Monster Calls<\/em>
\nThis one there’s no question in my mind: I’m rooting for A Monster Calls<\/em>. I’ve read both, and while Life: An Exploded Diagram<\/em> was good, A Monster Calls<\/em> was dazzling. Also, Life<\/em> felt much more like an adult book to me. I think if I’d chosen to read it as a piece of adult literary fiction, I would have known what to expect and enjoyed it a lot more. My main reasons for not naming A Monster Calls<\/em> a Sonderbooks Stand-out were personal. I read it when having mysterious health problems, and it’s about a mother dying. But the book is outstanding!<\/p>\n

So, those are the only matches that don’t have a Sonderbooks Stand-out competing, and I’ll go with my Stand-out for all the others.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, you can already take part by participating in the Undead Poll<\/a>. In this, you vote for your favorite title and, if it has been knocked out earlier in the competition, it will come back from the dead in the final round.<\/p>\n

I decided to vote for Okay for Now<\/em>, because I was sad it didn’t get any Newbery recognition. I’ve also found that a lot of people, like me, love it, but also a lot of people really don’t like it. So, in case it gets knocked out by a judge who falls into that second camp, I want it to have another chance.<\/p>\n

Thinking about it later, I kind of wish I’d voted for Daughter of Smoke and Bone<\/em>. Because two of my favorites, Daughter of Smoke and Bone<\/em> and Chime<\/em> are in the same half, one of them is definitely not going to make the Final Round. So I should have voted for the one that I like a tiny bit better than the other, to give it another chance. Oh well! Here’s hoping it makes it to the Final Round despite me! And I won’t mind if it’s Chime<\/em> either, though my ideal final round would be Daughter of Smoke and Bone<\/em>, Chime<\/em>, and Okay for Now<\/em>. But the only way that will happen is if one of those first two wins the Undead Poll. So get out there and vote!<\/p>\n

PS: HOW much fun is it to have an SLJsBoB icon?!!! Monica and Roxanne told me I could post it on my site.<\/p>\n

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