Sunday, March 11, 2012

2012 SJL Battle of the Books Round I Predictions

Round One of School Library Journal's Battle of the Books begins tomorrow and I am very excited. This is just the fourth year, the previous years. Battle of the Books aka Bob is set up in a bracket format, round one features 8 matches in which the 16 titles are matched up. Which ever book is chosen by the judge of that match moves on to the next round. The 16 contenders are a mixture of non fiction, fiction, middle grade and young adult titles. One thing they books all have in common is being well received in 2011, many have garnered multi starred reviews.

The judges are always authors with no ties to any of the contending books. This is the first year we don't get to guess who the judges are, which I am little sad about. I think someone at SJL started Battle of the Books as a fun way to keep people talking about books after award season is over. But really I don't care why, just happy Battle of the Books is.

My non scientific first round picks

Match 1 (March 13, Judge Matt Phelan) -
Amelia Lost vs Anya's Ghost - Amelia Lost

Match 2 (March 14, Judge Gayle Forman)
Between Shades of Gray vs Bootleg - Between Shades of Gray

Match 3 (March 15, Judge Sy Montgomery)
The Cheshire Cheese Cat vs Chime - The Cheshire Cheese Cat

Match 4 (March 16, Judge Sara Zarr)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone vs Dead End in Norvelt - Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Match 5 (March 19, Judge Barbara O'Connor)
Drawing from Memory vs The Grand Plan to Fix Everything - Drawing from Memory

Match 6 (March 20, Judge Sarah Weeks)
Heart and Soul vs Inside Out and Back Again - Heart and Soul

Match 7 (March 21, Judge Lauren Myracle)
Life: An Exploded Diagram vs A Monster Calls - A Monster Calls

Match 8 (March 22, Judge Jeff Kinney)
Okay for Now vs Wonderstruck - Okay for Now

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I am obsessed with the BoB! I still have to finish 2 and a half books before I can make my predictions, but so far I think you're right about almost every single round. I preferred Cheshire Cheese, but I have a feeling Chime is going to win that round. Can't wait for the fun to start on Tuesday!

Doret said...

Katie, Battle of the Books is always so much fun to follow. I am really pulling for the Cheshire Cheese Cat it's was my undead pick as well.

TruEssence said...

I am going to go read the summaries to all the books you listed!-:) First time on your blog and I have enjoyed reading and browsing through your space! I will definitely be back! Happy Reading!-:)