Comments from the Peanut Gallery: Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

SLJ's Battle of the Kids' Books kicks off today with what just may be the closest match-up of them all: Phillip Hoose's Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice versus Deborah Heiligman's Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith.  Judge Jim Murphy did an admirable job in making his decision (which I personally think was the right one).

But I won't spoil the decision here, just in case you haven't already heard.  Instead, I'll say that I think Murphy reasoned out his decision very well and I'm glad the decision came from someone as well-respected in the young adult non-fiction community as he is, so there can be no accusations of ballot-rigging or game throwing.

Tomorrow's match-up pits Jacqueline Kelly's debut novel The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate against Kristin Cashore's sophomore effort, Fire (Graceling).  I had the opportunity to get an ARC of Cashore's novel way back in early 2009, and loved.every.second.of.it.  Her world-building skills are top-notch (read her Horn Book article for more on that) and her strong female characters and well-paced storylines that keep you turning pages and rooting for good to overcome evil just can't be beat.  And what can I say about Calpurnia Tate? Well, I have Kelly's novel checked out from the library and have heard again and again just how fabulous it is, but alas, have not had a spare moment to sit down and read it.  I MUST do this tonight.