For those eagerly checking this site for this year’s contenders, we need to let you know that last year was the final Battle of the Kids’ Books. We enjoyed tremendously our nine years doing the Battle and hope you enjoyed it too. Thank you to everyone involved over the years — those at SLJ, our wonderful judges, the publishers, and our loyal followers. It has been grand!
M1: 3/13 Judge Duncan Tonatiuh
Freedom in Congo Square vs. Freedom Over Me
M2: 3/14 Judge Lulu Delacre
Thunder Boy Jr. vs. When Green Becomes Tomatoes
M3: 3/15 Judge James Dashner
Ghost vs. The Girl Who Drank the Moon
M4: 3/16 Judge Varian Johnson
Makoons vs. March: Book Three
M5: 3/17 Judge Tanya Lee Stone
Samurai Rising vs. Some Writer!
M6: 3/20 Judge Jane Yolen
Wet Cement vs. When the Sea Turned to Silver
M7: 3/21 Judge Nova Ren Suma
Anna and the Swallow Man vs. The Lie Tree
M8: 3/22 Judge Brendan Kiely
The Passion of Dolssa vs. The Sun is Also a Star
M1: 3/23 Judge Javaka Steptoe
Freedom in Congo Square vs. When Green Becomes Tomatoes
M2: 3/24 Judge Eliot Schrefer
Ghost vs. March: Book Three
M3: 3/27 Judge Cynthia Kadohata
Some Writer! vs. When the Sea Turned to Silver
M4: 3/28 Judge Sara Farizan
The Lie Tree vs.The Sun is Also a Star
M1: 3/29 Judge Ellen Oh
Freedom in Congo Square vs. March: Book Three
M2: 3/30 Judge Sabaa Tahir
Some Writer! vs. The Sun is Also a Star
Revealed3/30
3/31 The Closer Judge Kwame Alexander
The Girl Who Drank the Moon vs. March: Book Three vs. The Sun is Also a Star
12/14 Guess-the-Contenders-Game
1/18 Contenders Revealed
1/31 Fantasy BOB Commences and Pairings Revealed
2/6-2/26 Judges:
James Dashner, Lulu Delacre, Sara Farizan,
Varian Johnson, Cynthia Kadohata, Brendan Kiely,
Ellen Oh, Eliot Schrefer, Javaka Steptoe,
Tanya Lee Stone, Nova Ren Suma, Sabba Tahir, Duncan Tonatiuh, Jane Yolen, and Closer Kwame Alexander.
2/10 Download SLJs Battle of the Kids’ Books Brackets.
3/1 Judge Pairings Announced
I will miss this! Thank you for all those exciting years of waking up and rushing to check the latest Battle update. <3
So sad. I always loved it (and it definitely got me to read a lot of books I wouldn’t have normally checked out). Thanks for expanding my horizons.
Thanks so much for 9 years of battles. I’m so sad it’s over!! Such a wonderful way to read wide and hear from authors.
NOOOOO!!! Say it isn’t so! I was really looking forward to doing this with my school again this year! This was a lot of fun to incorporate into my Junior High Library. Do you know of anyone else that does this type BOB, with educated individuals making the hard choices of the winning books? Where did you get your list of books for the Battle?
I’m in denial…..this can’t be over!
Terribly sad news!!!
I wonder what is going on at SLJ, with this announcement, and the Printz blog and Adult Books 4 Teens making similar announcements. It’s very disheartening.
Thank you for all your work and posts over the years. It’s been marvelous and I’ve looked forward it every year.
Blah. Now, how will I know what to read????