Tag: Kids' Books

Final Four

We are down to the Final Four. 64 YA and Teen Novels have battled it out and now there are only 4 left standing. John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars takes on The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas. Meanwhile, the Canadian classic, Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery, takes on JK Rowling’s Harry Potter. 

The Elite Eight promised some compelling and hard fought contests, although several matchups weren’t as close as anticipated. Harry Potter was dominant in a win over The Hunger Games, as was The Hate U Give as it rolled over Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. The victory was a bit harder to come by for Anne of Green Gables as it defeated The Book Thief. Meanwhile, the one nail biter of the round saw The Fault in Our Stars eke out a last second win over The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Semi-Final voting runs April 5th and 6th, closing afterschool Wednesday. Voting in the Championship Final will run April 7th and 8th.

Go here to VOTE NOW

March Madness: Latest Results

Updates from the March Madness YA Lit Tournament “Round of 32”

The Round of 32 is in the books. The number of voters was down, but that was expected over the March Break. Regardless, the results were still very compelling!

In the Popular YA regional, the higher seeds all advanced. The Perks of Being a Wallflower will move on to face Stargirl, which won a nail biter over Th1rteen R3asons Why. Meanwhile, it will be an all-John Green match-up as both The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska won their 2nd round games.

The Current Issues regional gave us one big upset, as #12 seed The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian shocked #4 Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Firekeeper’s Daughter advances, as does The Hate You Give, with a unanimous shutout over If You Could Be Mine. The closest battle saw Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe narrowly squeak by Long Way Down.

There were a few more shutouts in the Classic regional. Both Little Women and Anne of Green Gables crushed their opponents by unanimous decisions. The Book Thief cruised to a comfortable win over The Catcher in the Rye, while The Giver upset that book still found in English classrooms all over North America, The Outsiders.

The Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Supernatural regional also featured some shutouts. Top seeds Harry Potter and The Hunger Games both earned flawless victories. The Maze Runner handled Divergent, while in an upset unimaginable a decade ago, #6 Percy Jackson defeated #3 Twilight.

Now onto the Sweet Sixteen!

March Madness: Opening Round Results

As the 2022 March Madness YA Lit Tournament got underway at your School Library, the dream of 64 competitors was to become March Madness Champions. Instead, suddenly it was all over for half of them. 32 books who were eliminated. Sent packing. Dreams crushed.

Most of the contests were very decisive, and went according to expectations, with the higher seeds advancing to the next round. However, there were a few upsets, and a number of matchups went right down to the wire.

Highlights:

As expected, all the Regional #1 Seeds cruised to victory. Harry Potter, Little Women, The Fault in Our Stars, and The Hate U Give all advanced, with Angie Thomas’ novel crushing Speak, 97-3. However, that wasn’t the largest margin of victory. That distinction went to #2 seed The Hunger Games, which obliterated Song of the Lioness with a 100-0 shutout.

As one might expect, the 8 v 9 contests were very close. Shadow and Bone just edged past The Marrow Thieves, and If You Could Be Mine squeaked by Dumplin’, both match-ups going to the final buzzer and 51-49 scores. However, those weren’t the only contests to finish 51-49, as All the Bright Places scared #3 If I Was Your Girl before a heartbreaking finish, while #4 Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda was nearly upset by Dear Martin.

There were a few upsets. with two #10 seeds, Long Way Down and Infernal Devices advancing. The biggest upset of the round was #12 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian shocking #5 You Should See Me in a Crown.

Thanks to everyone who voted. We look forward to seeing how your votes give us some more surprises and tight match-ups in the Round of 32.

March Madness: Vote!

Voting continues in the opening round of March Madness. Go HERE to cast your votes as 64 YA novels compete in 1-on-1 matchups to advance to the Round of 32. Get your vote in for this round before the polls close at 2:30 on Thursday.

March Madness is open to all Lord Tweedsmuir students and staff, as well to “friends of the School Library” from the wider community!

Go here for more information on March Madness