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A Word (or Two or Three or More) from Our Commentator
I know many of you must be wondering how we chose the shortlist, so let me shed some light on that subject. The three of us—Monica Edinger, Roxanne Feldman, and I— read widely this past year, exchanged e-mails throughout the fall, and came up with an eclectic, diverse list with a mix of popular and literary titles. We hammered this out in early December (well before the ALA Youth Media Announcements), devised the bracketing strategy (books are matched up alphabetically by title, rather than randomly as was the case last year), and then handed it off to School Library Journal who recruited and assigned the judges. By way of justification, here are some of the accolades each title has received to date.
CHARLES AND EMMA won the inaugural YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction. It was also a National Book Award finalist, a Printz Honor book, and is a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist. It received five starred reviews and made five best of the year lists.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN won the National Book Award. It was also a Newbery Honor book, a Sibert Honor book, and a YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction finalist. It received five starred reviews and made six best of the year lists.
THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE was a Newbery Honor book. It also won the Josette Frank Award. It received four starred reviews and made five best of the year lists.
FIRE won the YA Fantasy/Science Fiction Cybil. It received five starred reviews and made four best of the year lists.
THE FROG SCIENTIST won the AAAS/Subaru/SB&F Middle Grade Science Book Award and the MG/YA Nonfiction Cybil. It received four starred reviews and made one best of the year list.
THE LAST OLYMPIAN won the hearts of children everywhere. It received two starred reviews and was a New York Times 2009 Notable Book.
LIPS TOUCH was a National Book Award finalist. It received two starred reviews and made one best of the year list.
THE LOST CONSPIRACY is a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist. It received five starred reviews and made three best of the year lists.
MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD won the YA Schneider Family Book Award. It received five starred reviews and made five best of the year lists.
MARCHING FOR FREEDOM is a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist. It received five starred reviews and made five best of the year lists.
PEACE, LOCOMOTION was an Odyssey Honor audiobook. It received two starred reviews.
A SEASON OF GIFTS received five starred reviews and made three best of the year lists.
THE STORM IN THE BARN won the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. It received five starred reviews and made four best of the year lists.
SWEETHEARTS OF RHYTHM received three starred reviews and made one best of the year list.
TALES FROM OUTER SUBURBIA won the Children’s Book Council of Australia Award for Older Readers, made the New York Times Best Illustrated Books, and is shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. It received five starred reviews and made four best of the year lists.
WHEN YOU REACH ME won the Newbery Medal, was a Best Books for Young Adults Top Ten, and is shortlisted for the Andre Norton Award. It received five starred reviews and made five best of the year lists.
Last year, we got two recurring questions. First, some people questioned why certain books were paired together, as if there was an ulterior motive for doing so. As I’ve mentioned it was completely random, and, yes, that resulted in some odd apples vs. oranges comparisons, but that is part and parcel of evaluating a field of books. And second, some people questioned why we were heaping even more praise on books that didn’t need the extra attention while many other deserving books languished in obscurity. The primary purpose of Battle of the Kids’ Books is entertainment rather than publicity, and while it does behoove us to include many books that people know and love, we do try to throw in a lesser known title or two (e.g. WAYS TO LIVE FOREVER last year, SWEETHEARTS OF RHYTHM this year).
Of course, we found it very difficult to leave some excellent titles off the list, but we are very happy with the ones that we included. You are welcome to quibble with our choices, of course, and I invite you to do so in the comments below.
I’d also like you to consider which title above to vote for in the Undead Poll (opening tomorrow). There’s a bit of strategy involved here. Do you choose your absolute favorite—even if you think it’s a sure bet for the final round? Or do you pick a beloved title that almost certainly will get ousted before then? Choose wisely!
Filed under: Commentary
About Battle Commander
The Battle Commander is the nom de guerre for children’s literature enthusiasts Monica Edinger and Roxanne Hsu Feldman, fourth grade teacher and middle school librarian at the Dalton School in New York City and Jonathan Hunt, the County Schools Librarian at the San Diego County Office of Education. All three have served on the Newbery Committee as well as other book selection and award committees. They are also published authors of books, articles, and reviews in publications such as the New York Times, School Library Journal, and the Horn Book Magazine. You can find Monica at educating alice and on twitter as @medinger. Roxanne is at Fairrosa Cyber Library and on twitter as @fairrosa. Jonathan can be reached at hunt_yellow@yahoo.com.
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