2012 Book Battle Long List

Phew!  I'm finally done sorting through the nominations and notifying our judges, which means I can now post the long list for the battle!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who nominated a title!  Without your suggestions we wouldn't be able to have a battle.  We did have a few nominations who got filtered out as duplicates or because they didn't fit the parameters of this battle.  So if anyone doesn't see their nomination and would like to know why, please send me an email and ask.

There were 71 (!) nominations this year, way more than I thought we would have in such a small(ish) category.  This compares to about 80 nominations last year just to give you an idea of the scope of these nominations.  And the funny thing is, there are even more fairy tale retellings that weren't nominated and so didn't make the list!  It's a good time to be a fairy tale fan apparently.  :) Our long list has a nice mix of the expected fairy tale and Greek myths, but also has some surprises like Navajo and Polynesian legends.

Now with the release of this list, our Round 1 judges will get busy reading, reading, reading, and more reading over the next month to determine which of these books will make the short list and move onto the brackets.  71 books in, only 16 out...

The battle is on!

2012 Battle Nomination Long List
A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce
A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
Abandon by Meg Cabot
Avalon High by Meg Cabot
Beastly by Alex Flinn
Between Two Ends by David Ward
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
Bound by Donna Jo Napoli
Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
Cindy Ella by Robin Palmer
Cloaked by Alex Flinn
Damosel by Stephanie Spinner
Dark of the Moon by Tracy Barrett
Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton
Destined by Jessie Harrell
Don't Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough
East by Edith Pattou
Entwined by Heather Dixon
Golden by Cameron Dokey
Goose Chase by Patrice Kindl
Half Upon a Time by James Riley
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst
Inside the Walls of Troy by Clemence McLaren
Into the Woods by Lyn Gardner
Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Lightbringer by K.D. McEntire
My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison
My Very UnFairy Tale Life by Anna Staniszewski
Nobody's Princess by Esther Frisner
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
Princess of the Wild Swans by Diane Zahler
Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale
Seven Daughters and Seven Sons by Bahija Lovejoy and Barbara Cohen
Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott
Shifting by Bethany Wiggins
Sirenz by Charlotte Bennardo
Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer by Maureen McGowan 
Snow by Tracy Lynn
Snow in Summer: Fairest of Them All by Jane Yolen
Starcrossed by Jospehine Angelini
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs
Sweetly by Jackson Pearce
The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson
The Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn
The Poison Apples by Lily Archer
The Princess Curse by Merrie Haskell
The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
The Shadow of the Bear by Regina Doman
The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley
The Swan Kingdom by Zoe Marriott
The Third Eye by Mahtab Narsimhan
The Thirteenth Princess by Diane Zahler
The Wager by Donna Jo Napoli
The Wide-Awake Princess by E.D. Baker
Thornspell by Helen Lowe
Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep
Violet Eyes by Debbie Viguié
Waking Rose by Regina Doman
Water Song by Suzanne Weyn
Wild Orchid by Cameron Dokey
Wildefire by Karsten Knight
Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

Nominations Now Closed!

So, it's a little later than I anticipated, but nominations for the 2012 Book Battle are now closed.  Last weekend was my dad's birthday and unfortunately my allergies have been TERRIBLE this year (lots and lots of headaches this season) that kept me away I little longer than I thought I would be.  Sad how real life gets in the way of blogging.  :(  But never fear, for we shall press on!

I'm currently sorting through all the nominated titles and getting Round 1 judges assigned, and will be posting the long list (hopefully) in the next few days.  So although nominations are closed, we still have spots open for judging, as I can add partners to the Round 2 brackets as we go.  So if you know anyone who might want to be a judge and hasn't volunteered yet, feel free to jump in.  Full details about that are here.  

Meanwhile, if you've volunteered to be a judge, look for an email from me soon.  And I will be announcing the winners for the linking contest soon as well.

Onward and upward!

Book Battle: The Great Linking Weekend Giveaway

The close of nominations for the 2012 YA Bloggers Fairy Tale Book Battle is approaching soon, and we still need a few more volunteers and nominations for the battle this year. So to encourage those of you who haven’t participated yet, I’ve created:

The Great Linking Weekend Giveaway!

Want to win a book from your wish list? Of course you do!  Because we can always use more books. :)  I will be giving away this as a prize* to 2 very lucky winners.

It’s very easy to enter:

First, you need to nominate a book and/or sign up as a volunteer judge part of the battle. If you’ve already done either step, you’ve already qualified.

 Then, you need to come back to this post (the giveaway post) and leave me a comment with this information:

• Your email address (or another way to contact you)
• What you did (nominated a book or signed up the judge or both)
• Where you heard about the battle (who referred you)

Make sure you include ALL of that information in your comment. Incomplete entries will be deleted and you’ll have enter again. If you don’t want to/can’t comment, please send your entry to me via email to shadyglade(AT)mail(DOT)com (yes that’s just “mail” not gmail, ymail, hotmail, etc.).

 One lucky commenter will win a book of their choice! So where’s the other prize come from? Well, there’s another part to the contest. So if you want to double your chances, here’s what you need to do.

The idea behind this contest is to spread the word through links. So first you will need to blog, tweet, facebook, link, email, etc about the contest. You can also grab the button in the right sidebar (over there ------>) and post it on your blog/website/whatever. If you choose to link, make sure you to this contest post directly.

 That’s all you have to do to double your chances! When others follow your link and enter the contest, you will automatically be entered one time for the second prize (they will have to give your name as the referral). The person who refers the most people to the contest will win the second part. So the more you link, the greater your chances are. ;)

 Depending on how many entries we get, I may toss in a few other random winners as well. I have a stack of fairy tale themed books that I’m planning to give out at some point during the battle, so why not now? If anyone has any questions, please ask. This contest will run until Monday, May 14th. Extended until May 16th!

 Let the linking frenzy begin!

 *Winners will win a book of my choice from their wish list valued at $15 or under. Book may be gently used or new.

2012 Book Battle: We have a Button!

Well it's official! We now have a graphic for the 2012 Book Battle. What do you think? It took me a looong time to make this, so sorry for the delay, but I had to wrestle with my computer quite a bit to get to it. (stupid technology...)

So here's where I need all of your help.  It's time to help spread the word about the battle. We still really need volunteers to judge as well as nominations. So if you have a blog, website, twitter, facebook, or whatever, please post about the battle or pass on the news to your friends who you think might be interested. I've made the button available for everyone to grab, it will be over in the right sidebar if anyone wants the code.

And (hint hint) there will be a contest coming up this weekend for those who want to link and would like to win a prize for doing so. So come back in a day or two for more details on that. :)

So without further ado, here's the code for the button if you'd like to grab it (also available in the sidebar):

<center><a href="http://theshadyglade.blogspot.com/2012/04/introduction-to-2011-ya-bloggers-book.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia6a5OD8QTVrcKVFjlxr2CVg9ATIuP27vZJWB-NvpZNjk8EmY4SqDneF6KwE2kK-6KbCka0ktqGC5yaciTC28Os_5TaV6r0w4Y1Gz-YkgF7FhhAyx1nljRXrZ8QqwfQ-MzrvO-Vw/s1600/2012+battle+button+sidebar.jpg" /></a></center>

2012 Book Battle Nominations Open!

Welcome to the Nominations Page for the 2011 YA Bloggers Debut Battle! This is the place where you can nominate the book YOU think should win the battle.

 As chosen by readers, our theme this year is:

Retold Fairy Tales

For the purposes of this battle, the definition of a "retold fairy tale" is a book that re-imagines or gives new life to a fairy tale, legend, or myth. This can also encompass books that combine more than one "traditional" tale, even if these are blended to create their new story.  The winner of this battle will be a book that breathes new life into an old favorite by being its own story, but still pays tribute to the original story.

Your nominations should follow these requirements:

1. It must be first published in English between January 1st, 2001 and December 31st, 2011. Reissues do not count if the book was first published before 2001.
2. It must be either Young Adult (or middle grade with strong teen appeal). 
3. It must be a retold fairy tale/myth/legend, or combination thereof.  
4. Only books that are first in a series are allowed.  EXCEPTION: If you're book is a later part of the series but can stand on its own (like the Once Upon A Time Series), it can count.
5. It must not be a nominee from a previous battle (if you'd like to double check, please let me know)

So, do you have a book that retells your favorite story? Fill Out the Form to place it on the nomination list.

You may nominate up to 2 different titles. If you are a teacher or librarian submitting nominations for your students (we've had a few do this in past years), please let me know in the comments section on the form so I don't delete them.  Email addresses will ONLY be used to track entries and will be deleted as soon as the nomination period is over. As a reminder, please DO NOT leave your nominations in the comments! They won't count unless you use the form.

Nominations will be open until Wednesday, May 16th (unless announced otherwise). All books nominated will be screened to check that they are eligible, then passed along to our Round 1 Judges. Round 1 will narrow down the books for brackets, and our Round 2 Judges will get started in early June. If you'd like more explanation about how the judging process works, check out this post.

 If you have any questions, feel free to email me at shadyglade(AT)mail(DOT)com.

Now, nominate away! And we still have volunteer spots open too!

Book Battle: 2012 Call for Judges and Volunteers!

*UPDATE 5/22* We're still open for Round 2 judges.  Even if you're coming to this party late, if you'd like to join, please read all the below info and sign up.  We'd love to have you!

I know this is the part of the battle that many of you look forward to year after year.  It's the call for volunteers!

If you're new this year, you should know that although it's fun to watch the battle take place, half of the fun comes from participating.  I can't do this huge event all on my own, so tons of volunteers step up to pitch in and make it possible.  Last year we had over 50 people volunteer in various positions. 

So whether you're a returning participant, or a newbie, please take a minute to consider volunteering.  It's lots of fun, and I promise I'm not a slave driver (LOL). 

As a reminder to everyone who is signing up judge:  You DO NOT need to have previous judging expereience.  You also DO NOT need to have your own blog.  The only requirement is you have a love for YA books and you have the ability to critically examine them.  Teamwork is also a must need for Round 2 Judges. 

We need judges as well as a few other volunteers, so check out these open spots below:

Graphics Specialist - This volunteer will be reponsible for coming up with a logo/button for this year's battle (or finding someone else who can do it for you). They may also be responsible for creating/updating the bracket graphics as the battle progresses. This volunteer can also be a judge. Position Filled, thanks!

Reading Challenge Moderator - This year I will be adding a reading challenge to the festivities.  More info on this will be coming later, but I need at least one person to help keep track of points and progress.  This will be done through our battle Goodreads group pages. 
-Desired Requirements: Goodreads account (or willingness to create one), experience hosting reading challenges a plus. Position filled, thanks!

And, of course, we wouldn't be anywhere without our fabulous judges. If you are new to judging this year, make sure you read this post about the judging process before you apply so you understand how the process works.

Round 1 Judge: These judges will be responsible for reading as many of the nominated books on the longlist they can in about 3-4 weeks. They will recommend titles for the shortlist to be organized into brackets. These judges will work alone, although a few may be required to have discussions  with other Round 1 judges.
-Desired Requirements: Quick readers, willingness to borrow/buy books where needed (access to large library a plus), ability to meet deadlines on time, critical thinker. Round 1 starting end of May, please sign up for Round 2 judging.

Round 2 Judge: Second round judges will be assigned a bracket (ie two books) to read and pick a winner. Every Round 2 Judge will be working with at least one partner to pick the winner for each bracket. -Desired Requirements: Ability to finish 2 books in 2 weeks, works well with others, checks email regularly, willingness to borrow/buy books where needed (access to large library a plus), ability to meet deadlines on time, critical thinker.

Again, I want to stress that you do not need previous experience or a blog to volunteer to judge.  We welcome everyone!  :)

If you'd like to volunteer for any of these positions, please fill out the form. I will start responding hopefully by next week. At that point you will be assigned a position(s) and asked to commit to the timeline. You can apply for as many positions as you want, but you will not be given more than 2 spots.

In the meantime, please pass on the word to any of your friends who might be interested.  And come back Tuesday to start submitting your nominations!

If anyone has any questions, feel free to email me at shadyglade(AT)mail(DOT)com. Good luck to everyone!

An Introduction to the 2012 YA Bloggers Book Battle

*Returning Visitors* Scroll down to the bottom for the latest updates!

Well readers, things have (finally) settled down a bit at home, which means it's time to get the 2012 YA Bloggers Book Battle on the road!  As always, I want to start with a brief introduction so that those of you who are new to the battle this year can have some background info.  So what is the YA Bloggers Book Battle?

Well, it started as a crazy idea in 2010. The idea took off and before you know it, I was in the midst of organizing an epic book battle.  And strangely enough, people liked it.  So I brought it back for 2011.  And it was even more fun.  And now, here we are in year three, and by now, it's just history.  :)

The YA Bloggers Book Battle is a bracket-style judging contest. Our 2010 theme featured the best debut work of 2009 (and a little of 2010), while blog readers chose the theme for 2011 to be Best Overlooked Book. This year for 2012 blog readers have chosen the battle theme as Mythology and Fairytale Retellings.

Here's a general idea of how the battles work:

People will have a chance to nominate a book of their choice to take place in the battle. After nominations close, the books will be narrowed down by our lovely Round 1 judges. Books that make the cut will be fit into brackets for Round 2 Judges to read.

Starting in early May, each Round 2 judging panel will read the two books in their bracket and choose a winner. One will move on, one will not. It will all come down to two books in a epic book battle to choose the best!

Tentative Timeline:
To Be Announced

Updates will periodically be posted here, so if you don't follow the blog regularly, you can bookmark this page and periodically check back to see what's new.

Latest News
5/11 - How about a contest?  Link to our nomination/judging pages and win a book of your choice!  2 winners, ends 5/16.

5/9 - We have a button!  See it here or grab it in the right sidebar.

5/1 - Nominations open

4/29 - Signups for judges and volunteers now open

Book Battle: Vote for our theme!

A few days ago I asked readers to submit their ideas for our theme for the 2012 Book Battle.  The ideas are in and now it's time for everyone to vote on their favorites.  Thank you to everyone who submitted ideas!

For those of you who are new to the battle, here's an introduction post I wrote in it's first year.  But basically, it's a bracket-style elmination competition for books.  I organize the event, but I don't have any hand in the judging or determining the winner.  Judges are selected from volunteer book bloggers, YA lit enthusiasts, and blog readers.  Each bracket is judged by a new set of volunteers, who choose which book will move on, and which book does not.  This is the 3rd battle at The Shady Glade, and each year has had a different theme. 

So, with that quick intro out of the way, it's time to detail out the options for this year's battle.  There's a form at the bottom of this post (or you can find it here).  Please fill it out to pick your favorite ideas.  It's really short, only takes a minute, and I count on as much participation as possible to do this!  Voting will remain open until Saturday, April 15th at midnight PDT (or earlier if particpation slacks off). 
The winning ideas determines how many volunteers we will need, and the other organizations I have to set up behind the scenes, so once we know our winner I will be sending out a call for volunteers. 

Here are descriptions of each option detailed in the poll.  You can pick no more than 2 favorites (since we have several new suggestions this year).  If you have any questions, please ask. 

Let the games begin!

Best Debut Author Title of 2011 - This would mark the return of 2010's theme for another year.  This battle features books by authors whose first book was published during 2011. 

Mythology retellings - With the surge of books that are based on fairy tales, legends, and various mythology, this battle will pit these types of books against each other to determine an ultimate winner.

Good books with horrible covers - You know how you always hear "don't judge a book by it's cover"?  This battle gives those books that you would never think to pick up off the shelf a chance.  What gems are hidden beneath the horrendous cover art?  And which book is best of them all?   

Book Academy Awards - This takes the idea of the Academy Awards to the YA book market.  Several categories including best male character, best female character, best supporting character will battle it out for a winner, similiar to our Readers' Choice Awards this past year.  This will feature several "mini brackets" with several winners, one for each category.


Best of the Genre - In this battle, books will be broken up by genre to battle for the best of their kind in 2011. What was the best fantasy published last year? Best historical? Best parnormal? This will feature several "mini brackets" with several winners, one for each category.

Best sequel - Know of a book in a series that was better than the first?  Which recently published book outshines it's predessessor.  This theme will require judges to read 4 books, the original and the sequel for both sides of the bracket. 

Read-alike Versus Battles - This idea will shake up the bracket system used in previous years. Instead, books will be nominated in read-alike pairs. Vampire Academy VS. House of Night, Hush Hush VS. Fallen, etc. You pick two very similar books to battle it out to see which is the best of the pair. One winner will be declared for each pair, so for this battle no ultimate winner will be chosen.

Best Standalone book - Are you sick of all the sequels and series coming out?  Why does it seem like every new book is part of a series?  This battle will choose only those books of 2011 that stand on their own, without any sequels or series. 

Best series - With the aforementioned increased in series books, which series is best overall?  So many have great introductory books and then seem to flatten out as the series drags on.  This battle will determine a winner where the book stay strong and finish strong.  This battle will have lots of reading for our judges, and so it will greatly increase the timeline for the battle, and the lag between bracket winner announcements. 


In addition to a battle theme, I am also opening up voting to determine the structure of the judging. Last year we had a two round judging process, and the year before was one round of judging.

One Round Bracket Judging (from 2010 battle) - All the books nominated are narrowed down to a set number of slots in a short list. This list is divided up into 5 rounds brackets and judges are paired up to determine the winner of each bracket. This style of judging takes less time, but means less volunteers can participate.

Two Round Judging/Elimination (from 2011 battle) - All books are checked for eligbility and added to a "long list". Round 1 Judges have approximately a month to read as many nominated books as they can. At the end of Round 1, each judge submits a list of the Top 10 books they think should move on to the next round. The books with the most votes are used to compile the short list that moves onto bracket judging in Round 2. This process takes a little longer, but allows more reader submitted nominations to be considered and more volunteers to participate in the judging process.

So there you have it, all the choices explained. Don't forget to choose your favorite by filling out the form below:

2012 Book Battle: What do you want to see?

It's that time of year again!  The 2012 YA Bloggers Book Battle is approaching it's third year this time around, and it's time to start preparations.  (For those of you who are new to the battle, here's an introduction post I wrote in it's first year.)  I sent an announcement about this yesterday to our Goodreads group, but for everyone else, here's the latest scoop.

Last year I tried something new by letting you, the blog readers, suggest ideas for the battle theme and then vote on which one you would like to see played out.  It worked out really well, so I'd like to do it again this year.

So take this opportunity to tell me what theme you want to see.  In 2010 we did a Debut Author Battle, and last year was Overlooked Books.  There's been additional suggestions in the past about doing mini genre brackets, versus battles, and more.  We've already got some great ideas coming in at the Goodreads group, but I want to get input from those of you who don't necessarily make it over there.

Leave a comment on this post with your battle ideas.  If you'd prefer to remain anonymous, you can also submit your ideas via this Google form.  Next week I will be putting up a poll so you can all vote on your favorite suggested idea.

Here's to another great year!

Book Battle: Round 2 Series 5 WINNER!

Well, here it is battle fans. The moment you've been waiting for. It's time to announce the winner of the 2011 YA Bloggers Book Battle. If you haven't had a chance to yet, take a peek at the Reader's Choice Awards. And then proceed to see who wins.

Bracket 24:
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper VS. StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Judged by Emily from What Book Is That? and Amber of Amber's Teen Reads




VS.

After several months, lots of intense rounds of judging, it's come to the final bracket. An undefeated contest comes up against a highly acclaimed book that was eliminated early, but was granted a new chance at the winning spot in Series 4. So which book would win?

It certainly wasn't an easy a choice. Judge Emily had this to say about the two contenders:

"This was a tough choice, as in my opinion both books were excellent in their own ways. They're from two totally different genres- one is a realistic contemporary narrated by a young girl with cerebral palsy, and one is a fantasy adventure, narrated by a sneak-thief with magical abilities."

Judge Amber had this to add:

"In StarCrossed, Elizabeth C. Bunce created a whole world around the suppression of magic, sneak thieves and mayhem. Bunce created a world where silver jewelry can help hide magical powers from those who want to squash magic. She created a character named Digger who had to stop trying to hide and not take sides in the war against magic and determine where she stood.

While in Out of My Mind, Sharon M. Draper urged us to look beyond what we see to the person inside others. We met a girl named Melody who has Cerebral Palsy and is seemingly locked inside her own mind. With the help of an amazing aide, a neighbor and her parents, Melody receives the tools she needs to show everyone she is brighter than anyone gave her credit for."

So do you think you know who the winner is? Scroll down to see the answer:





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The winner of the 2011 YA Bloggers Book Battle is...

...Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper!

And with that, we've concluded the battle for another year. Phew! This year was twice as big (and twice as much work) so hopefully you had twice as much fun! Look for a roundup of all the posts coming the next few days so you can catch up if you missed anything.

Thank you to all of our excellent judges. And don't forget to click through the links to read all the judge's posts. They go into a lot more detail than I do!

Book Battle: Reader's Choice Awards Winners

Thanks to a very observant commenter, I realized this afternoon that I have neglected to post the final winners from the 2011 YA Blogger Debut Book Battle.  Whoops!  It was my intention to post these at the beginning of the month.  Unfortunately, with the delay last week I kind of forgot.  So today we have the winners of the Reader's Choice Awards and tomorrow will be the final battle winners.

Now, before I move on to the winners, I have a little disclaimer to go along with these.  In the end, not a lot of people ended up voting, so some of the categories were pretty cut and dry (Reader's Choice was almost unanimous) and some were a little more split.  So if you don't agree with the choices and you didn't vote, you should vote next time!  :)

Now without further ado, here's the winners of the Reader's Choice Awards!

Best Setting: Bellezza from City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman

The majority of all of the Stravangaza books takes place in Talia, and alternative version of our Renaissance Italy. But of all of the books from that series I've read, I have to agree that Bellezza is one of my favorites. Patterned after historical Venice, this would be a place I would love to visit. Except for the whole having to wear a mask thing. I think that would get old eventually...

Best Cover Art: Stork by Wendy Delsol

There's some great cover art in our group of finalists, but I have to agree that this is one of my favorites.  It really backs up the fairy tale feeling to the book, don't you think?  Blue isn't necessarily one of my favorite colors, but I think it works really well in this situation.

Honorable mention: Intrinsical by Lani Woodland (also a blue cover!)

Best Villian: Lord Daul from StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce

This category was no contest. Sadly, I still have not had the opportunity to read StarCrossed myself yet (it's on the top of my TBR list though), but this Lord Daul sounds like quite the nasty character. With over 40% of the vote in this category, this dude must be majorly bad news.

Most Unique Premise: The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

Who wouldn't love a library that loans items from the Grimm fairy tales? Actually sign me up for the library in general! I love the idea of loaning things rather than just books. And although this particular title didn't make it that far in our battle, it certainly gets good marks for a creative idea.

Honorable mention: Storm Thief by Chris Wooding

Best Main Character: Jacky from Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer

This category was actually pretty close. The top three contenders were actually tied. Those of you who voted on the awards might remember there was a space to include any comments you wanted about your votes. Jacky wins this award because although she tied for first place, she was raved about over and over again in those comments. Some of my longest commentaries were on Jacky's side, and so she takes the crown for this round.

Honorable mention: TJ from Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher and Katla from Stork



Most Likely to Re-Read: Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund
(sorry no picture, my computer was being stupid and wouldn't upload one, I'll try again later)

Another category with a more split vote. But in the end Academy 7 just barely slipped ahead of the contenders to take the lead. This book also made an appearance in quite a few votes for other categories, but this is the only one in which it truly shined. Again, not a far mover as far as the battle goes this year, but apparently those who did read would love to dive back in.

Honorable mention: StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce and The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle

Weirdest/Most Quirky Character: Kiki Strike from Kiki Strike: Inside Shadow City by Kristen Miller

I have to say, I really agree with this choice. An albino girl with a secret past who drives around New York City on a Vespa and has a severe food allergy? Now that qualifies as weird and quirky! Come to think of it, all of Kiki's group of backups (The Irregulars) qualifies in this category. But Kiki is the star of the show, so we'll let her have her moment in the spotlight as the winner of this award.


Most Overlooked: Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner
(another missing picture due to stupid computer)

It's hard to choose a book to win this category, when "overlooked" is the theme of the whole thing after all. But if there's one book that has seemed to surprise the judges over and over during this battle, it's this one. I think historical fiction as a whole tends to get overlooked, and I was so happy to see this book go so far. It's one of my new favorites, and I have enjoyed getting to share it with so many people who may have otherwise passed it by.

Best Romance: Kate and Marak from The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle

I have to say this is my personal favorite romance of this lot (although Threads and Flames is probably my second favorite). And maybe it's because it's such an unusual romance. After all, when Kate and Marak get married, she doesn't even like the guy one bit. The play between the two of them, as well as seeing them come to care for each other, was a real treat for me. You just don't see that as much in YA books nowadays, where so much of it seems to be *poof* I'm in love!

Honorable mention: Keturah And Lord Death from the book of the same name by Martine Leavitt

Reader's Choice: StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce

So, if you hadn't guessed already, this is the book the most reader's chose to win the battle overall. This one was a bit of landslide, there wasn't much competition from the other books. The next nearest in votes didn't even get half as many as StarCrossed. Good thing it's in our final round! On the other hand, many of the voters hadn't read as many of our finalists, so perhaps in comparison, StarCrossed can be defeated? You'll have to come back tomorrow to see who takes the battle title for this year!

2011 Reader's Choice Awards: Time to Vote!

Thanks to everyone who voted on the Reader's Choice Awards poll. The input has been tallied, and we now are ready to vote! As we wait with baited breath to see which of the two finalists win the final bracket in Series 5, it's time for YOU to play judge.

There are 10 awards being given in the following categories: Reader's Choice, Best Cover Art, Most Likely To Re-Read, Most Overlooked, Most Unique, Best Main Character, Best Villain, Best Romance, Weirdest/Most Quirky Character, and Best Setting. You can choose any of the 24 final nominees from Round 2 as your votes. If you need a refresher about which books are eligible, cover art, plot, etc. they are all posted in our Goodreads Group bookshelf page.

To vote, fill out the Google form below (or follow this link). You are required to give your email address, but that's just to track duplicate entries and will be deleted as soon as the voting closes. Voting will be open until August 22nd at midnight.

Remember that even if you haven't read all (or even any) of the nominations, you can still vote for the awards. A vote is not required for every award, so you can pick and choose which ones to do. There's also a box for you to explain any of your choices if you wish to do so.

Questions? Let me know. Otherwise go vote! This is your chance to let your opinion be heard!

Book Battle: Round 2 Series 4 Winners

So you know how when it rains, it pours? After all the excitement I mentioned in the last results post, I had my computer get a virus or something that  s   l   o   w   e   d  it down to the point of a crawl. So all of this week I could only access the internet from my phone. Which, although I can do a lot of things, isn't very conduscive to blogging. Ugh.

So now that things are running a little bit smoother, it's time to announce the winners of Series 4. Hey, better late than never, right? We're getting down to the final deicisions here, and the Series 5 judges are already busy on their books. The end is near!

Bracket 22
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper VS. Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner
Judged by ReaganStar of Star Shadow Blog and Melissa of Mel's Books and Info

If there's two book in this battle that have been credited for being the most heartwarming, it's these two. And now that we're down the wire, they've finally come head to head. But alas, only one can move on. It was a hard decision, but ultimately our judges were able to agree on a choice.

Here's what Judge Melissa had to say about both books:

"The both of these novels are remarkable works of fiction, but I think what was our ultimate deciding factor was memorability. [The winning book] is a novel that sticks with you. Long after you have turned that last page, you can't get [the main character] out of your mind."

So which book made it to the next round? Our first finalist for Series 5 is... Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper!

Bracket 23
Stravaganza: City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman VS. StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Judged by Misty from Book Rat and Kate formerly of The Neverending Shelf and now co-blogger at The Book Monsters

A few weeks ago our readers choice StarCrossed as the eliminated title to return during this bracket. With a fresh competitor and a new set of judges would it have a second chance, or was it doomed to be defeated as before?

Judge Misty had this to say about her judging experience this year:

"It was interesting, judging between the two, because in a lot of ways, they are very similar. Both are about courtly intrigue and secrets, and magic where there should be none. And they weren't paired together because of that. This was purely luck of the draw.

It made for a sort of introspective judging experience for me, because I had to sometimes ask myself how the reading of one was coloring the reading of the other - was I treating them as their own, separate books? - while at the same time, there is a very clear side-by-side comparison opportunity. It was easy to say, Oh, well, X definitely did ________ better than Y..."

So which book would move on? In a surprise turn of events, the second finalist for this year's battle is... StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce!

So a previously defeated book moves on, and becomes one of our finalists, while the other in an undefeated strong contender through the whole battle. Keep an eye on the blog for the final results, as Out of My Mind and StarCrossed go head to head for the final title of 2011 Book Battle Champion.

In the meantime, come back in the next day or two to see more about those Reader's Choice Awards you voted on before. The categories have been chosen and it's time to vote on the books!

Book Battle: Reader's Choice Awards Poll

Those of you who follow our Goodreads group for the battle have already heard about this, but it's time to share with everyone.

New to the battle this year, I've instituted the Reader's Choice Awards category.  To help fill the time between now and when the final winner is announced, I'm giving you the choice to have your say in choosing the top books from our battle finalists.

About a month ago I asked for suggestions from our Goodreads group members for categories they'd like to see for a series of Reader's Choice Awards.  Well, now it's time to vote on what awards will make the final cut.  Fill out the Google form below (or click the link) to pick the categories you'd like to give as awards this year. There's also a spot for you to pick your own.  Pick up to 5 categories.  Those with the most votes will become actual awards this year.

I'm tracking entries by email address, so you will need to enter that.  Don't worry though, they will be deleted as soon as entries are closed this Saturday at midnight.  So vote now while  you still have a chance!

Book Battle: Round 2 Series 3 Winners

So this is super, super late in being posted.  Unfortunately, my life took a turn for the crazy the last few weeks.  Without getting into gory details it involved major sunburns, borderline anaphylactic shock, some nasty rashes, a broken car, a local festival, a crafting class, and then all the normal stuff you would expect, like work.  Phew.  Anyway, thanks to our awesome, awesome, totally and utterly amazing judges, the battle has been proceeding on even with my crazy life, so the only thing that's behind so far is announcing winners.  So without further ado, let's work on getting caught up, shall we?

Bracket 19
Intrinsical by Lani Woodland VS. Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Judged by Linda of Most Important Letter

I think this third round is where decisions start to get really tough. The first two series almost unavoidable have some easy choices, even though the finalists had already passed one rigorous round of judging. But here we have two very highly praised books, finally pitted against each other. Which one would triumph?

Judge Linda had this to say about the process:

"Let me first tell you how difficult it is to choose if a book is better than another. Honestly, who can be the judge of that? I mean, as long as the book is written well (developed plot and characters with correct grammar and so forth), books are generally the same. All it weighs on from that moment on is the judge’s taste. So that’s why I was so surprised by my choice for the winner"

So which book did it come down to? The winner is... Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper! And so the highly rated Intrinsical is ultimately defeated, but it sounds like an awesome book anyway, so you should check it out.


Bracket 20
Song Of The Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell VS. Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner
Judged by Jennifer of Reading With Tequila

Did I mention that these brackets are getting harder to judge? Both of these books came highly praised by our previous judges. They're also both very different, one a fantasy novel in prose and the other an emotionally touching historical novel. But only one can move on...

Judge Jennifer states that for her, at least, it was an easy choice:

"Choosing between Threads and Flames and Song of the Sparrows was an easy decision. One book took things I couldn't even pretend to be interested in and made me care deeply and passionately about them. The other took something I loved and made it less exciting and harder to read than it should have been. "

So which one came out unscathed? The winner for this bracket is Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner! I have to admit I was a little surprised this book has made it this far. Although I loved it, it almost got cut in Round 1, since it didn't come super highly recommended by those Round 1 judges who had a chance to read it. Still, it did make the cut, and here it is now! Threads and Flames moves on to Bracket 22, where it will battle it out against Out of My Mind in the next round.

Which brings us to our last announcement for this series...


Bracket 21
Stravaganza: City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman VS. Stork by Wendy Delsol
Judged by Jillian of Heise Reads and Recommends and Cait of Escape Through The Pages

It seems that as our underdog, City of Masks is still going strong. But would our Series 3 judging pair think the same thing when matched up with the highly praised Stork?
New Judge Jillian had this to say about her first battle judging experience:

"I was excited to participate and was assigned a round 3 bracket to judge, which meant I was dependent on some choices from those who came before me. One of the titles I thought sounded good didn't make it past an earlier round, but as I read my books I came to see that these were not exactly easy decisions. The decision was made especially difficult when you have two very different feeling books...one contemporary teen and the other more middle grade fantasy. "

Here's what returning battle Judge Cait had this to add:

"Once again, I found myself trying to judge two books that couldn’t be more different, yet similar in how wonderful they are. But, along with my fellow judge...we came to a decision fairly quickly."

So which book went on? I'm very excited to announce that the winner is Stravaganza: City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman! I've said it before, but I'll say it again: this is one of my favorite books and I'm so happy to see it get more attention. I'm sad to see Stork go too, but as mentioned before, there are no easy decisions at this point in the battle.

So there you have it! And since I was so behind in announcing these, it means you all don't have much longer to wait to hear results from Series 4. In the meantime, there will be a new poll up tomorrow, so definitely come back for that.

And as always, make sure you click through to read all the judges' posts in their entirety. They've got great analysis for all the books, and I can only give you a small peek at what they write for these roundups.

Until tomorrow, battle fans!

And the Winner Is...

The votes have been tallied and it's time to announce the winner of our readers poll!  The winner, of course, will be our returning book for Series 4 that gets a final last chance at the final and winning spot.  So which book will it be?

The winner is StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce!

It will be moving on to Bracket 22, where it will go up against Stravaganza: City of Masks for one of the finalist spots in Series 5.

We're getting down to the end, and we have more results to announce later this week! Keep an eye out for the winners of Series 3 coming soon. And, for those who are curious, the second runners up for the poll were The Hollow Kingdom, John Belushi Is Dead, and Bloody Jack.

Quick Change For Returning Book Poll

There's been a slight update to the What Book Returns in Series 4 poll. Thanks to one of my sharp readers, it was brought to my attention that there is no way to NOT vote for a book in one of the series.  I've corrected the list, and now you have the option to choose "No vote for this series" as one of your votes.

I've sent an email to everyone who "chose" one of the default books on the list (Academy 7 for Series 1 and The Grimm Legacy for Series 2) as their vote to ensure that they meant to pick that book.  If you fall into that category and for some reason didn't get an email, go ahead and resubmit your corrected vote using the form on the original post.  Just put "Resubmission: (your email address)" in the Email address box so I know to delete your earlier vote.

For those of you who haven't voted, you have until midnight on the 18th (Monday).  Remember, ANYONE can vote, and your email address are only used to track multiple submissions and will be deleted after the poll is closed.  So don't forget to vote!

You Pick What Book Returns!

For those of you who've been keeping an eye on the brackets graphic for the battle may have noticed a mysterious spot in Round 4.  And while returning battle spectators from last year may know what this means, those of you who are new might not.

To keep brackets evenly matched, we need another competitor to add to Round 4.  So we "resurrect" one of the previously eliminated titles and give it one last second chance at the coveted spot in Series 5.  Last year a team of judges helped narrow down which books were eligible for the spot.  There was a lot of thought and feedback from last year (both judges and spectators) that went into the planning for this year.  And I've decided to do things a little differently.

To be truly fair to those books that maybe didn't get a chance because they were matched up with the wrong book, I've decided to narrow the field of competitors to only books eliminated in Series 1 and Series 2.  This also makes it easier on our Round 4 judges in the affected bracket, since they don't have to wait for a decision at the end of Round 3 to get their assignment.

So, now it's your turn.  Want to have a say in which book comes back?  Fill out the form below and let your voice be heard!  You can choose up to 2 books, one from each series.  Pick a book from one series or the other, or you can pick one from each.  It's up to you.  The book that gets the most votes will move on.  The announcement will be made at the end of Series 3.

You have until midnight on July 18th to vote.  So what are you waiting for?  Go fill out the form already!

Book Battle: Round 2 Series 2 Winners (Part 2)

Welcome back to the 2011 YA Bloggers Book Battle. It's time to announce the rest of our winners from Series 2. So without further ado, let's jump into the brackets.

Bracket 16:
StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce VS. Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner
Judged by Ashley of Book Labyrinth

This had to be a hard bracket to judge, and I don't envy Ashley her job. Two very different books were matched up here, one a engaging historical novel and the other a unique fantasy with excellent world-building. But only one can make it out. Which one would it be?

Here's what Judge Ashley had to say about the process:

"This was a tough decision because the books are so different. An incredibly fun cat-burglar fantasy tale versus a heart wrenching historical. They’re so dissimilar that it’s tough to judge them against each other. When it came down to it I asked myself “Which book, of the two, would you say that people have to read?” The answer was clear."

Would your clear answer be the same? It is if you picked the winner as...Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner! I have to say I'm happy for this book. As I mentioned in the announcement posts for the last series, I recently finished it and loved it. But I must say I'm disappointed to see StarCrossed go. But, don't count it out yet. We do have that Round 4 surprise coming up...

And so Threads and Flames moves on to Series 3, where it will meet Song of the Sparrow head on in Bracket 20.


Bracket 17:
Stravaganza: City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman VS. John Belushi Is Dead by Kathy Charles
Judged by Mariah of A Reader's Adventure

Mariah is one of our returning judges this year, and we're so happy to have her back. She also had a interesting bracket to judge with a more lighter middle grade-ish time travel book (that I highly admire) pitched against a unique contemporary story. Even with her veteran judging experience, Judge Mariah had a hard time choosing:

"So as you can see this was a really hard decision, and ultimately came down to which book held more surprises throughout it, as well as which book kept me the most captivated."

So which book was more surprising and captivating. In a surprising turn of events (for me at least) the winner is...Stravaganza: City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman! I'm happy to see this one win another round, and I am also pleasantly surprised, since I didn't expect this book to go this far.


Bracket 18:
Stork by Wendy Delsol VS. The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle
Judged by Stormi from Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My! and Cade from Braintasia Books

Our judges this round included a newcomer (Cade) and another veteran judge from last year (Stormi). Together they teamed up to judge a pair of evenly-matched fantasies. Just like last time, this was the bracket I was most nervous about, since The Hollow Kingdom easily fits in my Top 10 favorite books. But what would the judges think?

Judge Stormi had this to say about the process:

"So as I read these two books I had to go with the book that held the most appeal to me. The one that had a interesting storyline. I went with the one that held my attention and made me care more about the characters in the book. "

Judge Cade added that they picked the winner:

"Because of its original concept, general readability, and totally awesome main character..."

And which book made it out in one piece? The winner is...Stork by Wendy Delsol! So although I'm disappointed to see The Hollow Kingdom go, it sounds like I need to read Stork ASAP. :) Stork will move forward in the battle, heading up against City of Masks in Bracket 21 of the next series.


And as they say, that's all she wrote for Series 2. Don't forget to click through the links to read the full (and awesome) judges' posts.  I only pull a tiny snippet of their thoughts for these roundups, so if this is all you're reading, you're missing half the fun!  Series 3 judges are already underway with their judging, with decisions (hopefully) being made by Saturday. So keep an eye out for those in the coming week or so.

And if you're tired of being a spectator and want to have some say in the battle, definitely come back tomorrow to see the surprise twist in store. Oh, and check out the Reader's Choice Awards currently going on with our Goodreads group. More fun stuff coming your way with those in the next few weeks as well.

Viva la Book Battle!

Book Battle: Round 2 Series 2 Winners (Part 1)

So after an unfortunate delay, we're back to announcing bracket winners! Amazing how fast the contenders dwindle, isn't it? Series 2 results will be broken up over two short days. And there will be a surprise after that as well. But since we're here to announce winners, let's get started!

Bracket 13:
Intrinsical by Lani Woodland VS. The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman
Judged by Heidi and husband partner A from Las Vegas Ladies of Literature

After The Grimm Legacy beat out Keturah and Lord Death last time, I admit I had high hopes for it this round. I recently started the book and am loving it, although I haven't had a chance to get my hand on Intrinsical. (Which, incidentally, seems to be a pattern among our judges). Anyway, I knew Heidi and her partner had their work cut out for them, and they responded magnificently! Despite being one of the last brackets in Series 2 to know both of their assignments, they finished quite earlier. They officially win the Fastest Judging Award! But what did they think of the contenders?

Judge Heidi had this to say about the winning book:

"I was hooked from the start. It kept me intrigued and made me read it in 24 hours. It was a nice paced, intense read that was not as heavy and depressing as I thought it would be. It had a nice blend of creepy, humor and romance."

And Judge A had this to add:

"The more I got into it, the more I was intrigued. Despite my best efforts, dang it, I cared about the characters. I wanted them to work it all out."

Sounds like A declared a winner a little reluctantly maybe? So which book won? It is... Intrinsical by Lani Woodland! Heidi and partner have a great breakdown and analysis of the whole decision on their blog, so don't forget to pop over and have a look at that.


Bracket 14:
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper VS. Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress by Tina Ferraro
Judged by Lizzy of Cornucopia Of Reviews and Melissa of My Chaotic Ramblings

Top Ten seemed to be our underdog winner from last time, with a surprise upset over the much more serious Devil's Kiss. But would it prevail again? Well, the book that did move on was a big hit with the judges.

Judge Melissa had this to say about the winning title:

"I literally fell in love with the main character in [the winning] book right off the bat. I couldn't stop reading and it ended up taking me about 6 hours to finish the book."

Think you guessed the winner? I'll let Judge Lizzy make the announcement for this one:

"There was really no contest about which book was the winner, we both agreed that Out of My Mind beat out Prom Dress. The story was moving, the characters were believable, and most importantly I think that there's something in it that everyone can relate to. The story and the characters were so compelling that I found myself tearing up during a couple of scenes. So, a big two thumbs up from me!"

So there you have it. Out of My Mind gets two more glowing reviews from the judges, and moves on to the next series, where it will come up against the also highly rated Intrinsical. These decisions are going to get harder and harder folks...


Bracket 15:
Storm Thief by Chris Wooding VS. Song Of The Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell
Judged by Kayla of Caught Between The Pages

Song of the Sparrow was a strong favorite among its bracket last time around, as was Storm Thief. When two favorites come head to head, which one will come out on top? Judge Kayla reviewed both books, but had this to say about the winner:

"All in all, this book was practically perfect to me. I read through it very quickly, loved every moment of it, and wish there was more. The ending was brilliant, the characters witty and captivating."

And which book is she talking about? The winner of this bracket is...Song Of The Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell! So this book will be winging it's way (pun intended) to the next series of brackets where it will battle it out against a new competitor.

And with that we are halfway through. As always, don't forget to click through the links to all the judges' blogs to read their full posts, which are awesome as usual. Come back tomorrow for the rest of the Series 2 results!