Today's winner

Marcelo in the Real World was up against Marching for Freedom in The Battle of the Kids' Books today.  These two books have very little in common, except the first four letters of each title.  One book deals with a fictional autistic teen's struggles to enter the "real" world, deal with father-son conflict, betrayal and love.  The other book describes the struggles of real black teens who stood up for Civil Rights in the eight months that led to the march on Selma. 

Struggling teens - that must be the other common thread in these two books.

So which book did Gary Schmidt, the judge du jour, pick to go to the next round in this contest?  And who came up with this match-up, anyway?  The winner is.....Marching for Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge.  Schmidt's reason is elegantly simple.  Read his opinion of both books here.http://sljbattleofthebooks.com

We get the weekend off, which is just time enough for everyone to read the next contestants, Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson and A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck.  Fiction against fiction on Monday.   Both books are worth reading and I will be happy with either title moving on to the next round.

BOKB - the battle rages on

Each day is a surprise in the contest that is "The Battle of the Kid's Books".  (No more annoying parentheses, except my own!)

The edgy collaboration of graphics and supernatural romance that is Lips Touch: three times by Laini Taylor was unseated by a dense and involving fantasy by Frances Hardinge, The Lost Conspiracy.  The judge for this round, Helen Frost, writes a very original explanation of her choice on the BOKB website today.  Read it.  It will make you want to read BOTH books as quickly as ever you can.  Christina Rossetti makes an extended appearance is Frost's apologia, making Frost's explanation even more enjoyable.  (I have wanted to use the word "apologia" all week!)

I am actually glad that my prediction was wrong, yesterday.  On to the next round!

BO(K)B cont.

In this blogger's humble opinion,  Nancy Farmer made the better choice yesterday in moving The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate on to the next round in The Battle of the (Kids') Books.  (What is with those parentheses?)  (Already?)

Today the choice is between The Frog Scientist and The Last Olympian.  Candace Fleming chose our good friend, Percy Jackson, over the frogs.  The frogs are very attraction, though, and who doesn't enjoy learning more about nature?  Read both of these books and make your own decision.

Tomorrow,  Lips Touch is up against The Lost Conspiracy.   Supernatural kissing vs tribal politics and survival.  Hmmmm.  This is an interesting match.  

Battle of the Kids' Books

The first choice has been made.  The first book has gone on to the next round.  And what book was that?
Click here to read about the process that author, Jim Murphy, went through to make his decision between Deborah Heiligman's Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith and Phillip Hoose's Claudette Colvin: Twice toward Justice.

Have you finished reading?  Then, you know which book won.  For everyone else, the winner is..........Charles and Emma: the Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's contest between The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (YES!!  YES!!) by Jacqueline Kelly and Fire by Kristin Cashore.  May judge, Nancy Farmer, be led to the most sage of all decisions. 

Battle of the Books

Correction!  First off, the library blogqueen goes by Betsy Bird.  Sorry.  Second, each judge gets to choose between two books only.  This makes the idea of voting for an Undead (or already eliminated) title even more appealing.  BECAUSE, what if the author/judge just doesn't have a feel for the book he or she eliminates?  Not every reader can fully appreciate every book.  The judges chosen for this year's Battle are more discerning than 99.786% of the reading public (I made that figure up), still...  Go to http://www.slj.com/ and click on the article about the Battle of the (Kids') Books in the right hand frame for a list of the books and the judges.  Or go to the last post in this blog and click on Betsy Bird's video.

Battle of the (Kids') Books

School Library Journal's Battle of the (Kids') Books has begun!  Elizabeth Bird, librarian blogqueen, has a YouTube intro to every book in the running.  Click here to view the video.  (BTW, did she get  a new hairstyle during this video, or is it just me?)  Anyway, this year, readers get a chance to override the judges' final decisions.  Every judge eliminates one book from the running until only two are left.  Then, the Final Judge (this year it is Katherine Paterson) chooses the Winner.  However, if a reader's favorite book gets cut out of the running, that reader can vote to have the book vie against the last two books.  The first cut happens tomorrow.  Go to http://www.slj.com/ to keep track of what is happening. 

One book that did not make the Battle this year, although it certainly would have been a serious contender, is Josh Berk's The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin.  Josh is at the Parkland Community Library TODAY at 1 pm.  Stop by to purchase a copy of his book and get it signed.  Josh will leave a handful of signed books at the library for people who can't make today's book signing.

Turn your clock's ahead tonight as we Spring Forth!

In like a lion, out like a lamb

On March 6th, children celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday by listening to the Black Rose Teen Tellers and by creating birthday posters for Dr. Seuss.  The birthday posters are on display in the Picture Book section for the next week or two.

On March 13th from 1 to 2 pm, Josh Berk will be here to talk about his teen book, The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin.  Readers will recognize the setting for this novel about a teen who transfers from his school for the deaf to a regular high school and finds out that the hearing world is harder to navigate than he expected.  Berk has worked a couple of mysteries into this novel as well.

Juilene Osborne McKnight will tell Irish tales on Monday, March 16th at 7 pm.  Osborne McKnight is an author and storyteller who teaches courses in Celtic mythology and folklore throughout the Lehigh Valley.  This program will interest older children, teens and adults.

For Irish blessings, tales and trivia, check out the display in the center of the library.  Here is a website with more Irish sayings and blessings for the Gaelic at heart.

Looking ahead:
April is National Poetry Month and National Fly a Kite Month.  Here at the Parkland Community Library, April is Fly a Poem month.  Write a poem, limerick, haiku, and place it in the Poem box.  Youth Services staff members will put the poems on paper kites and fly them from the library ceiling.

National Library Week is April 11th to 17th.  On April 14th in the evening, the Lehigh Valley Zoo will bring some furry, scaly friends to the Parkland Community Library in celebration of National Library Week.