Ouch, My Eye!

Yes, hard on the heels of the ALA YMA, SLJ has just revealed their brackets for the annual rock-'em, sock-'em Battle of the Books. And I'm telling you my friends, I am shakin' in my boots this year.

This awe-inspiring battle graphic is by SLJ's art director, Mark Tuchman

The Battle Marches On...

I am telling you...real life (congressional votes); sports life (B-ball's March Madness) and reading life (SLJ's Battle of the Books) are making this one amazing March!  Nothing is predictable, everything is changeable and everybody I am reading and talking to is twirling around going, "What?", "Woot!", "What!", "What next?!?!". 

I am right there whirligigging.  I cannot predict! Brackets shot! Eyes opened! Eyes squinched shut!  There goes a favorite!  Hurray, somebody agrees with me besides my spouse!  Throw the bums out! Foul! Fair! Out of bounds!  Are they crazeee?!?!

After a week of furious action at BOB, I am appreciating the impossible tasks we have set our judges to.  I am glad I get to be a peanut (thanks for the t-shirt, oh Battle Commanders..I shall wear it with pride!) and not be one of them! Talk about the horns of a dilemma each day .They are doing a great job weighing this and that as appples and oranges get compared. I am holding up, like a candle against the darkness, the return from the dead (perhaps) of my top favorite.  Krikey-o-mikey! Here's to the week ahead!

The Battle has Commenced!

Have you been over to SLJ's Battle of the Books yet? The battle has begun and it is totally rock-'em, sock-'em action.  Now on day three, the distinguished judges have had the herculean task of making sure no entry is moved to the back of the bus in the evolutionary path that pits science and violence and books against each other. 

Wow...Jim Murphy, Nancy Farmer, Candace Fleming and upcoming judges have their work cut out for them. They are leapfrogging over each other, kissed by fate to find the lost, get real in their march, stay in the game show spirit, wend their way through the dust kicked up by the peanut gallery in a jazzy but positive way, and graphically face the comments and commentator who are probably muttering after each decision, "if you can't get justice...get even."  I think we all can make peace with the final decisions though because, agree or not, the reasoning is solid and fascinating to read.

If you are not making a daily stop here to watch the results, you are missing one of the best games in the kidlit- and library-blogosphere.  Be there or be square!

Are You Sleeping?

Well you must be if you don't know about the action happening over at SLJ's Battle of the Books site! Overseen by an able battle commander (the very talented Monica Edinger and Roxanne Hsu) and chatty commentator (Jonathan Hunt), the second annual battle is about to begin.  Sixteen lucsiously interesting books are going to be pitted against each other in a battle royale beginning Monday (YES, THIS MONDAY) with judges that will whittle the pool of combatants down to the eventual winner.  And what judges - stop here to meet them all!

The battle has been preceded with weeks of hilarious build-ups: last year's winning book the Hunger Games gives sound advice to this year's contenders in hilarious cartoons; the Peanut Gallery revving up (helloooo!) and making its first appearance with Battle posts from around the blogosphere; and there is still time for you -yes, YOU - to vote in the "Undead poll" by March 14 for the book that you think is most worthy to stay in contention if it falls out of the brackets through a loss.  All of this is accompanied by tongue-in-cheek sassiness and hilarity. And of course it has given us readers more time to make sure we have finished reading the contenders we somehow missed reading last year!

I know where my first reading stop of the day for the next few weeks will be.  Hope it's your too.  And now let the battle begin!