And the Winner is . . .

The Hunger Games!!!

Honestly, I'm kind of amazed. I thought for sure that Octavian, with its literary complexity and nasty underbelly of history, would nudge out the red-hot thriller action and moral dilemmas you get from The Hunger Games. But they're such different books it's hard to compare. Let's go to judge Lois Lowry for a quotable quote:

Any book that starts out with 24 children and ends up with 22 of them dead----(one of them eaten alive by canines. I bet he was a very, ah, Tender Morsel)---that’s tough to beat.

You don’t like my decision? Find out my home address. Send thugs.

Lois, honey, I like your style. She does acknowledge, by the way, that every last book in the battle was a fabulous book to start out with.

Guys, suggestion for next year? Forget this "battle" stuff and just call it the Olympics. It gets that close.

Oh, and don't miss the comments!