Sunday Salon (on Thursday) - SLJ Battle of the Kids' Book - Round 2

Ok, all the first round brackets have been judged!  Let's see how I did overall and then my predictions for the winners of round 2:



Match 1 - Charles and Emma vs. Claudette Colvin - I lost since the judges picked Charles and Emma
Match 2 - Evolution of Calpurnia Tate vs. Fire - I lost and Evolution advanced
Match 3 - The Frog Scientist vs. The Last Olympian - Yay! The Last Olympian moved to round 2
Match 4 - Lips Touch vs. The Lost Conspiracy - I lost but The Lost Conspiracy won
Match 5 - Marcelo in the Real World vs. Marching to Freedom - I lost but Marching to Freedom marched on
Match 6 - Peace, Locomotion vs. Season of Gifts - I lost and Gifts were given to round 2
Match 7 - Storm in the Barn vs. Sweethearts of Rhythm - Yay! The Storm moves me into two wins.
Match  8 - Tales From Outer Suburbia vs. When You Reach Me - I won and Tales lived to tell another one...

Round 1 - Wins:3 Losses:5

Wow, I took a serious self-esteem hit in thi first round until I realized that judges, even though they are authors, are actually people too!  They have opinions and they like and dislike things just like I do.  Well, not JUST like I do...

So, on to round 2 predictions

Match 1 - Charles and Emma vs. Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

As I mentioned in my Sunday Salon, I chose Evolution of Calpurnia because I find it slightly more palatable than Charles and Emma.

Match 2 - The Last Olympian vs. The Lost Conspiracy

I tried to re-read TLC but still haven't made it past the first 100 pgs.  I will finish it today but I'm hoping that The Last Olympian moves on. I see that Angela Johnson is judging and I'm sure she believes that you can say what you need to say and do it well in books of smaller size.  So, I hold out hope for this one.

Match 3 - Marching for Freedom vs. A Season of Gifts

Against my better judgement, I'm going for Season of Gifts on this one.  I don't know if it's the better book since I didn't read Marching.  Thinking about Bud, Not Buddy, one of Judge Curtis' books, makes me think he'll like Season.

Match 4 - Tales from Outer Suburbia vs. Storm in the Barn

This should prove to be a great match-up! Although, I don't think Tales is really a graphic novel it can be billed as such.  I have it in the short story collection at our library.  I may move it.  I loved Tales and my heart picked it over WYRM in Round 1.  The stories awakened a sense a wonder and also immediately brought to mind a way I could use it in the classroom.  I pored over the pictures and marveled at Tan's artistic talent and tried to determine what the stories meant!  I also pored over Storm in the Barn.  I loved how the history was woven into the story and the minimal use of color in the illustrations.  Phelan also has a great artistic talent. I could see who I would hand this one to and, like Tales, it includes staff members as well as students.  But, I kept going back to Tales.  Just to look at it.  I would seek it out and stare.  I only remembered Storm when I came across it.  So, I'm hoping for Tan on this one. Judge Shannon Hale writes for a variety of audiences and she writes prose as well as graphic novels.  Remembering her The Actor and The Housewife leads me to guess that she will agree with me.  Please!

There, you go!  I'll be back on Tuesday with updates from Round 2.  In the meanwhile, visit SLJ Battle of the Kids' Books and watch for my comments on each match!  Add your own while you are there!