Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Round Two of SLJ's Battle of the Books is over now. Here is what is moving on to Round Three:     This is a really strong Final Four. Even though I'm not a big fan of West of the Moon  personally, I see why others do like it so much. I think this may be the first year ever I'm not completely confused by how one of the books made it this far. But just as the judges have to choose, so will I. The books I want to see go to the final are: El Deafo  and The Port Chicago 50 . Of this round I liked Elizabeth Wein's decision the best despite its length, because of her unbridled enthusiasm for the competition and for referencing Roger Sutton's judging of the judges. (And I'm glad she did because I was starting to think he might need to take that up again as a reminder.)

It has been an exciting Round One in this year's SLJ's Battle of the Books. There have been surprises, excellent commentary (mostly from Kid Commentator RGN), and some disappointments. My favorite, The Crossover, was knocked out in this round, but I have hopes it will come back from the dead for the final. My favorite judge's decision was this one from Rachel Hartman. Here are the books moving on to Round Two:   I have zero strategy for picking winners in this competition. I just like to see my favorites last as long as possible. That being the case I would like to see Round 2 end with these winners: Brown Girl Dreaming , El Deafo, The Port Chicago 50, and  This one Summer.   As far as judges go, I'm most looking forward to reading Elizabeth Wein's decision. Because I will read anything she writes.

March Madness is here! Of the bookish sort that is. There are two bracket style battles I'm invested in taking place in the coming weeks. The first is the School Library Journal Battle of the Books . I've been following this one for years, and still love it. This is the first year in a few years where I haven't read all of the books, but there are still a lot of contenders I'm really excited about. You can see the brackets here . The book I'm hoping wins it all: This will be a challenge as the Newbery winner is famously unable to win this competition. It is probably not a shock then that this is what I voted for in the Undead Poll, which is now open. Go vote if there's a contender you love! SLJ BoB 2015 commences on March 9.  The other Battle I'm excited about is the YA/MG Book Battle which focuses on under-appreciated books from the backlist (including last year). You can see the contenders here. You can see the complete bracket for this ...