I missed last week due to a vacation, but there are THINGS To Say this week. And since I’m home, I can say them.

Round 2, Match 1 (last week, I know): Bomb vs. Code Name Verity
Leave it to Donna Jo Napoli to make the tough decisions. What she said about Bomb (if you haven’t read this, you need to. Now. It has the potential to win this thing.):

“It deftly weaves together the individuals, giving their backgrounds and the relevant factors that led them to be willing to join the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos in New Mexico – the secret enclave where the bomb was developed.  We come to understand why some of those men betrayed the United States by giving information to the Soviets; they feared that the bomb’s being in the hands of only one nation would lead to too much of an imbalance of power, and they admired the philosophy (if not the actuality) of communism.”

And what she said about Code Name Verity (I was trying to explain to my friend that THIS is the magic of the book, as she abandoned it halfway, skipping to the end):

“So many things we learn in the first part of the book are revealed as false in the second part.  But we don’t feel tricked, because the author gets us so deeply inside Julie that the revelations only make us say, “Of course.”  This is the mark of a master story-teller.  I couldn’t put this book down.”

Which did she choose? Bomb. Do I agree? Well… much like Liz, I was heartbroken with the loss of my beloved Code Name Verity. But I agree with Napoli: Bomb is an important book, and because of that, I’m glad it’s moving on.

Round 2, Match 2: Endangered vs. The Fault in Our Stars
What judge Martine Leavitt had to say about Endangered (and why I REALLY need to read it!):

“You like adventure stories? Animal stories? War/dystopian stories? This book has it all. Sophie survives in the sanctuary with the bonobos for several weeks until she is no longer safe there. She begins a journey through the Congo to find her mother at the site where the bonobos are released into the wild. There are a lot of guns in the book. There are lots of bugs in this book. Deliciously horrible. You are never allowed to stop worrying about Otto. You are never allowed to stop loving him. You are never allowed to put the book down.”

 And about TFiOS:

“Somehow John Green writes the most romantic romance-story-that-is-not-a-romance-story ever.”

 Her decision? TFiOS. Of course. (I liked this quote: “The fault in the stars of Eliot Schrefer is that his book came up against The Fault in Our Stars. I wouldn’t want my book to come up against a John Green book in a dark alley.”) And of course, I agree.

I think the match between these two is going to be the toughest to call. But I’m going to go with TFiOS to head into the final.

I’m going to TRY (emphasis on try, since next week is spring break, and I’m on vacation), to comment on the BoB matches every Saturday during the rounds. We’ll see what happens.

A side note: in the midst of all this, Roger Sutton at Horn Book is critiquing the judges themselves. It’s quite a fascinating (and fun) supplement to this battle.

Round 1, Match 1: Bomb vs. Wonder (my pick: Bomb)
What I liked that Kenneth Oppel said about Wonder:

“Interestingly, no adults are given voices in the novel: not Mom or Dad or Auggie’s principal. But Palacio knows that in a kids’ world, grown ups can provide occassional back-up, but aren’t there on the front lines.”

“While Palacio doesn’t shy away from showing us the cruelty that kids are capable of, the mood of the novel is faultlessly kind-hearted, optimistic, almost utopian. My only general quibble is that Wonder’s characters are all perhaps a little too wise and noble, and exude so much emotion that I felt relatively little of my own.”

And what he said about Bomb:

“Best of all, Sheinkin’s book is filled with all those small details that are the lifeblood of the best stories — and the details that novelists kill for when creating fiction!”

” Fascinating subject matter, and swift vital writing make Bomb a joy to read.”

His decision? Bomb. Do I agree? Of course. Mostly because while I liked Wonder well enough, Bomb was edge-of-the-seat gripping for me. Spies! Science! And written in such a way that made both accessible and interesting. Even with it’s Issues and Good Message, Wonder just couldn’t hold a candle to that.

Round 1, Match 2: Code Name Verity vs. Titanic (my pick: Code Name Verity)
I couldn’t find a really stand-out quote by Margarita Engle about Code Name Verity,  but she did say this:

“By contrast, Code Name Verity does not make an organized impression. The rambling style is one more commonly found in adult novels than those meant for young people.  It is a first person story, but the identity of the narrator keeps changing, as she writes a long, baffling confession (or accusation, or diversionary puzzle, or secret code—we’re never sure which).”

But, for me, her description of Titanic really made me want to read it (I haven’t yet, even though it’s on my TBR pile):

“Hopkinson writes like a gentle encyclopedia, presenting so much information in such an incredibly organized fashion that at times it is actually possible to forget that there will not be a hopeful ending for most of the endearing real-life characters who are described, quoted, or portrayed through vignettes of specific moments:  the arrival on deck, reading a book at bedtime, or bailing icy water out of an overcrowded lifeboat.  My favorite aspect of this book is the emotional impact of all the combined bits and pieces.”

Her decision? Code Name Verity. Do I agree? Of course. If you haven’t read this one yet, you ought to.

Round 1, Match 3: Endangered vs. Three Times Lucky (my pick: Three Times Lucky)
What Kathi Appelt said about Endangered:

“It doesn’t happen very often, but once in a while, I enter a book on page one, and when I exit that book, I feel like I’ve come to see something about the world that I didn’t know, or I didn’t think I knew.  It feels like I’ve trued something that needed truing.  Endangered was one of those books. “

And the reason I adore Three Times Lucky (I wish I could get more people to read this book!):

“When I read the lines out loud in Mo’s story, my heart sang.  I loved the cadences, the idiomatic speech, the lyricism embedded throughout this story.  It was like sitting at dinner with my great aunts.”

Her choice? Endangered. Do I agree? I don’t know. While I adore Three Times, I’d probably be able to tell better if I’d read the winner first. Which is something I’m going to do before round 2.

Round 1, Match 4: The Fault in Our Stars vs. Temple Grandin (my pick: TFIOS)
What Deb Caletti had to say about Temple Grandin:

 Lush full-page images of up-close cowhide bookend the story, bringing the animals themselves right to the reader in a way that’s smart and downright cow-cool. You want to stroke the pages.
 

And about TFIOS:

“Yeah, I liked the snap-crack dialogue, sure, but it wasn’t even that. What worked for me as a writer, but even more as a reader, were the truths of the small moments.”

Her pick? TFIOS. Do I agree? Of course. Though I also agree with Jonathan’s assessment: “THE FAULT IN OUR STARS has the ability to make a deep run in this tournament, but at some point I hope that our judges will weigh in on the success of Van Houten’s reappearance at the end of the novel—as that point seemed to dominate the conversation on the Printz blog.” It’ll be interesting to see how it fares throughout the tournament.

On to the second half of round 1!

Life: An Exploded Diagram vs. Wonderstruck: I have to admit that I really wanted Wonderstruck to win, just so we could have a battle of the artists. But it was not to be so. As judge Chris Lynch points out: “But despite the wonder undeniably struck by Brian Selznick, I have to go with Mal Peet on the strength of yer bleddy brilliant writing.” So, in the end writing wins out over art (though Lynch was, somewhat humorously, asked to “hate” Selznick by his artist wife…). I’ve been able to call half of the quarterfinal rounds, but I’m not so sure about the semis here: Which will win, a gorgeously drawn memoir or a brilliantly written novel? Too close to call.

Between Shades of Gray vs. Chime: First off: Maggie Stiefvater did NOT do what I expected her to do. Even though she wrote, “Ultimately, these two books both have their own sort of power. Chime’s is a personal sort: showing just how much damage we can do to ourselves. And Between Shades of Gray is about collective power: how filling yourself up with personal identity can be armor against everything but death, which is only the most obvious of enemies.” She went with Between Shades of Gray. I said earlier that I’m wondering whether or not that one can take it all. Now I’m not wondering: I’m pretty dang convinced. Even if it is Jonathan Stroud judging.

Drawing from Memory vs. Life: An Exploded Diagram: First off: judge Ron Koertge’s decision is brilliantly written. Seriously. That said, he went with Life, in the end. I know Liz didn’t like the book, but other than that (and the judges’ decisions, one round after another), I didn’t know much about this one. So, since I haven’t read either of the finalists, I’m declaring the final tomorrow too close to call for me. Unless, of course, it’s the winner of the undead poll.

Which is: Okay for Now. Which complicates things. It’s up against two books that have been blowing the judges away throughout the competition, ones that have been described as powerful and amazing. And yet, I think Okay for Now is just that: powerful and amazing. It’s been sorely under recognized this past year, for all its perfection.

Stroud could go any which way but loose in this (if there had been a fantasy, I’d be more sure on my feet), so I’m not even going to attempt to call it. I’m just going to say tune in tomorrow for the final decision. It’s bound to be pretty darn interesting.

As the finals are next Monday, I figured I’d round these up during the week, when I’m not running reviews….

Chime vs. Daughter of Smoke and Bone: One the one hand, NOOO! I seriously hoped E. Lockhart would pick Daughter for the win. On the other hand, I completely agree: “It is an awesome book, and I hugely recommend it to everyone, even though it ends with some of the mysteries unsolved because a sequel is forthcoming. Still, I am tipping the battle in favor of Chime by Franny Billingsley, largely because of my probably idiosyncratic inability to fall in love with that foxy, murderous angel.” Both are excellent novels; it’s a pity to see one go by the wayside. It goes up against Between Shades of Gray later this week; it’ll be interesting to see which one wins.

Drawing from Memory vs. Inside Out and Back Again: Again, I find I’m not surprised with judge Jewell Parker Rhodes decision to go with Drawing. I haven’t read it, and while I liked Inside Out, I wasn’t a huge fan. Besides, how can you compete with a book that’s “a full-fledged imaginative assault”? We’ll see tomorrow which book (I’m hoping for Wonderstruck, because that would be an interesting match) it’ll go up against.

Things are definitely getting exciting…

Drawing from Memory vs. The Grand Plan to Fix Everything: First, I think judge Barbara O’Connor really liked Grand Plan more than I did. She found such wonderful, lovely things to say about it. (Though we both had the same movie-reaction to the book. Interesting.) But, in the end, (even though she had more to say about Grand Plan), Drawing from Memory takes the win, “For the teamwork of art and words and for the total experience of this book.” I called it (mostly because I didn’t think Grand Plan was strong enough to win), though I do need to read Drawing from Memory now.

Heart and Soul vs. Inside Out and Back Again: I have to admit that while I liked Inside Out, I didn’t love it. I didn’t get what judge Sarah Weeks got out of it: “When I closed the book, I did so reluctantly. I felt that I had tasted ripe papaya, and glutinous rice—as well as the salty tears of the endearing main character, Ha. I loved every minute of reading this book.” But I did guess that Inside Out would be the winner, so I’m not disappointed with Weeks’s decision here.

Life: An Exploded Diagram vs. A Monster Calls: I just finished A Monster Calls last weekend (review forthcoming… sometime…) and was floored by the book. So when Lauren Myracle says, ” I pick Life: An Exploded Diagram, because of its clean and absolute ability to pierce my heart and tear my brain to pieces, in the best of all possible ways.” And that it pulled her in: “I did not predict that Life would suck me in as hard and fast and with such slurpy ferocity as it did, especially not on the tail of Monster.” How could I be upset that Monster (my prediction, by the way) loses in a face of comments like that? I can’t. Another one for the hold list at the library.

Okay for Now vs. Wonderstruck: Oh, my heart breaks. Really. I adored Okay for Now, and really thought it stood a chance against Wonderstruck. But, obviously, I missed something in that book, because it beat out Okay for Now to move on. Jeff Kinney’s a nice guy, but he just broke my heart. *sigh* Now the question is: will the two art books  meet up?

Round 2, Match 1 Amelia Lost vs. Between Shades of Gray: After reading last week’s first round decision about Between Shades of Gray, I started to wonder if this was the sort of novel that could win it all… after reading this second round decision, in which it handily beat Amelia Lost — judge Marc Aronson writes, “As books, they are equally well-crafted and worth reading. But Ruta’s novel does for the destruction of Lithuania what, say, Paula Fox and Tom Feelings did for the Middle Passage—gave our readers access to a haunting, tragic, and crucially important part of our common past.” — I am seriously considering getting behind this little book as an ultimate winner. Then again, it has to get by Maggie Stiefvater, and will be up against one of two great YA fantasies. That will be interesting. At any rate, it’s screaming “READ ME!”

I can’t wait to see who else makes it to the semifinals!

As promised: here’s my thoughts on the week’s matchups:

Amelia Lost vs. Anya’s Ghost: The first match, and I was an informed reader. I read them both and really liked Amelia Lost: concise, interesting history in a form everyone would like. Anya’s Ghost, while I thought was neat, just didn’t grab me. Thankfully, judge Matt Phelan agreed: “Amelia Lost succeeds in what it sets out to do, but for this reader it also manages to do more. Thanks to this book, an icon became a living breathing extraordinary human being with ambition, drive, and personality.”

Between Shades of Gray vs. Bootleg: I have to admit that I haven’t read either one. I went with Between Shades of Gray on my bracket solely on the recommendation of my boss (because she loved it), and because I hadn’t heard of Bootleg (shame on me). Well, my boss was right, and I was lucky: Between Shades of Gray for the win. As judge Gayle Forman said, “Between Shades of Gray is a harrowing, page-turner of a novel that shines a light on a piece of history too long shrouded in the darkness.” Time to pick me up a copy and read it.

The Cheshire Cheese Cat vs. Chime: I admit I went with Chime on this one. Partially (shame on me, AGAIN) because I haven’t read The Cheshire Cheese Cat. Possibly because I don’t (shock) love Dickens. But mostly because I really adored Chime, and I wanted to see it move on. Thankfully, I went with my gut: Chime gets the nod with a coin toss. Literally. (“Both are beautiful and perfect—neither is better than the other. I was so frustrated and at sea about this that I actually flipped a coin,” writes judge Sy Montgomery.) Sometimes, that’s all it takes.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone vs. Dead End in Norvelt: Argh! Sarah Zarr didn’t do what I expected her to do, so for the first time this round, I was wrong. That said, I’m perfectly happy with her decision to choose Daugher (LOVE that book, LOVE Laini Taylor), and the reason she gave is exactly why I love Taylor’s writing: “Taylor isn’t innocent of occasionally making her presence as an author more known than I’d prefer, but the poetry of her prose lent a mesmerizing quality to the fictional landscape and created a more wholly immersive reading experience.” I am more than happy to be wrong.

Which makes me 3 and 1 so far. Not too shabby a start.

Forget basketball: the event of the month is SLJ’s Battle of the (Kids’) Books!

In which the past years’ best books for middle and teen readers are pitted against each other, to vie to become the Big Kahuna!

(Or you could just watch this…)

The fun starts on Tuesday with Match 1: Amelia Lost vs. Anya’s Ghost, with Matt Phelan judging.

Who do I think will take it all?? I’m actually terrible at all this (though I do have my bracket pined up and ready for filling in — with my choices circled), but I’m rooting for Daughter of Smoke and Bone (go Laini!), with Okay for Now as a close second. The best part, however (and the reason this is so much fun), is reading the judges opinions.

And just because I love this, I’ll be back with wrap-ups every Sunday for the next few weeks… (I hope!)