15 March 2011

School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids Books: the story so far

Last year I missed out on the BoB Round 1 action because I was on holiday in Barbados (go on--feel sorry for me.) This year I'm hanging at home and able to follow the action day by day. Because I have read so few of the contenders this year (at present count: four) I am using the preliminary eliminations to try and ready myself for Round 2 which starts 24 March. I had to make some educated gambles as to which books I would start reading, and so far it's paid off. Match 1 saw the emergence of Louis Sachar's The Cardturner as the winner, and that is currently sitting atop my TBR pile. As for the Match 2 winner, Deborah Wiles' Countdown, I was also betting on that one, based solely on the fact that Conspiracy of Kings is a series book, and I've not read the rest of the series. Wise move, because that factored into the judge's decision, too. Countdown is already waiting for me at the library.

Now we come to day three, where I have actually read one of the contenders. The highly acclaimed The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan and illustrated by Peter Sis, a fantastical fictionlized account of the early years of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda takes on The Good, The Bad, and the Barbie: a doll's history and her impact on us by Tanya Lee Stone. I have a soft spot for non-fiction, but I've already read The Dreamer. So in the interest of time, I'm pulling for the poet.

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