And the Winner Is . . .

Well, I actually don't know yet. I'm a little behind on the two great kid's-book battles going on at the moment.

The first is Fuse #8's countdown of the greatest chapter books of! All! TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMME! Well, she doesn't really put it like that, because I imagine her throat would get sore.

As of this writing, she's at #5 (From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, in case you're interested), having counted down from 100. Some have been a surprise to me (seriously, guys? That many of you liked The Phantom Tollbooth?) and others have made me preen, newly vain in my own clearly excellent taste. Ever the trouper, Betsy is doing one per day. What will be #1? Place your bets now!

The second big contest of the past month has been SLJ's Battle of the Kid's Books. It's been fascinating to read some of the judgments, and my favorite are the ones where the author-judge says flat-out, "This is totally my subjective opinion because they're both awesome, mmkay?" The Peanut Gallery (reactions to the judgments) have also been worth the reading.

But the One Book to Rule Them All turned out to be . . . *drumroll while I check the website* Marching For Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge. As if that's not enough nonfic love, the Zombie Book was Pamela Turner's excellent The Frog Scientist.

Congratulations!

ETA: And if you think you'll go into Book Battle Withdrawal once Betsy's announced her number 1, never fear, for Nerds Heart YA is here. Contestants to be announced soon, according to the website. And there was much rejoicing.

Oh Yeah. It's On.

Are you ready to see children's books duke it out, Hunger-Games-style, to the bloody finish?

No?

Then turn your eyes away, because School Library Journal's second annual Battle of the Kids' Books starts Monday. Who will win? Who will crawl away bleeding? Who will rise from the undead, summoned by the eldritch arts (otherwise known as audience votes)? Who knows?

Follow the bloodbath via Twitter or at the official Battle of the Kid's Books Blog. That is, the blog for the Battle of the Kids' Books. Because no way am I getting involved in battles with my fellow book bloggers. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm terrified of Mother Reader.


Thanks to Fuse #8 for the announcement.

ETA: to correct the name of the sponsor. Scholastic? Where did I get that from?

Many Bloggers, 48 Hours, No Sleep

For the fourth year in a row, MotherReader is challenging us to crank our natural gift for devouring the written word up to 11. Yes, my chickies, it's time once again for the the 48-Hour Book Challenge, in which kidlit lovers all over this great land hole up with two days' worth of chocolate, caffeine, an internet connection (to review, natch!) and of course, the books.

Last year was my first year doing this, and talk about a marathon. But I also flexed my reviewing skills and I'm very pleased with the result. (Hint: click the 48-Hour Book Challenge tag at the bottom of this link and see what I read and what I thought of it all.)

This year's 48HBC takes place June 5-7. You don't really have to go 48 hours without sleep in order to read, but it made a catchy title.

I just realized I'm scheduled for three days off that weekend. Woo-hoo! I can read for 48 hours AND do my laundry! Cleaning my apartment will probably take the back burner, however.

Are you in? Drop by MotherReader's blog to read up on the rules and regs, and to throw your name in the hat.

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!

Battle of the Books, 1st Round

I've been hearing about SLJ's Battle of the (Kid's) Books all week. Now that the dust has settled for a moment, let's check in and see how things shaped up.

There are some surprises (I'm astounded that Nation didn't make it beyond round 1) and some tough battles to come (poor John Green now has to choose between We Are the Ship and The Hunger Games. Hoo, mama). What do you think of the winners? Who's your money on for the shiny gold medal?

Round two commences on Monday. To the trenches!

Free Books!

Lenore of Presenting Lenore is giving away free books all through the month of November. Of course, my head snapped around like a retriever sighting a downed duck. Check out her list of giveaways and how to win.

It's the Lisa Yee Title Contest Time Again!

Lisa Yee's blog is like a hit of caffeine at 4:30 am. I love it. One of my favorite features is her annualish title contest, in which readers compete to create silly titles. This year, the rule is, "Change two letters to get a whole new title."

Ready? Go!

Are You Ready to Read?

If you aren't now, you'd better be by the first weekend in June! MotherReader has set her Third Annual 48-hour Book Challenge for that weekend. The challenge: to read, and blog, for 48 straight hours somewhere between Friday and Monday. Click the link for more details.

I Can Haz Wardrobe?

Sarah Beth Durst, of Into the Wild fame, is running a contest on her website to promote the publication of an upcoming essay collection about The Chronicles of Narnia called Through the Wardrobe.

The book sounds very cool, and the contest even better. You've heard of LOLCats, right? (Just nod. It'll make it easier on you. Now go Google it.) Anyway, we have to make up some LOLAslans for the delight and edification of Sarah Beth and all her readers. Winners get a copy of Through the Wardrobe. It only runs through March 30th, so brush up on your LOLspeak and find a good picture to caption.

Cheerios Writing Contest

Talk about a weird combination.

Apparently Cheerios has teamed up with First Book and Simon & Schuster in the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories Children's Book Contest, which is a gag-worthy name, but I'll overlook that because I like the judging criteria:

1. Appropriate story/content for children ages 4 to 8
2. Emotional Connection
3. Writing Quality
4. Uniqueness
5. Read Aloud Potential

And you don't have to mention Cheerios at all.

Here's the rest of the info .

Also, when I read this sentence:

Cheerios is searching for the next great children’s book author by inviting previously unpublished adult authors to submit their story for a children’s book.

. . . I thought they were saying, "Can't make it as an author for adults? Try the kiddies! Those little twerps will read anything!" and I started growling. On re-reading, I think they were trying to ensure that they didn't get any actual child authors.

I hope.