SLJ's Battle of the Kids' Books

[ballerina-222.livejournal.com]

 I would like to bring this post to your attention Sounisians. We have some dire news for Gen. sljbattleofthebooks.com/2011/03/15/round-1-match-2-a-conspiracy-of-kings-vs-countdown/

Comments

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

We can hope for the Undead Poll to bring him back to life though.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

And the thing about Zombie!Eugenides is that just like regular Eugenides, he will NEVER STOP.

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

I was SO tempted to make that comment on the post, but then decided that perhaps I shouldn't.

EDIT for clarity: That is, I was tempted to say, "But you do know that Eugenides never loses, right? That even when he seems to lose he's actually PLOTTING HIS VICTORY?" But then I thought that people might not get it, and/or might think it was a bit over the top.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Over the top? Us? Never!

Can't wait for Zombie!Gen.

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

I'm really hoping for Zombie!Gen to come back from the dead and win it all. Do we happen to know if Richard Peck is a MWT fan?

[stubefied-by-gd.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, I love it and agree?

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I most didn't want to come across as creepy and/or threatening.

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

(I might sound like an awful fan but) that was my original prediction.

Now it just needs to happen.

[creative-lefty2.livejournal.com]

Greenwillow has a post about this on facebook. Their comment on it is one sentence long: "Well, we're just going to hand this one over to Sounis."

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/greenwillow

We get to defend and champion it!

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

LOL.

We are FEARED.

[ballerina-222.livejournal.com]

yes, that's actually what brought it to my attention. I loved that they mentioned us!

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

Bring out the weapons. They're waiting for it, and I say we give it to them.

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

Ha, comes with the job fan description doesn't it? We're pretty cut throat...like Attolia.

Hmm...*thinks about name change to: Attolians

[creative-lefty2.livejournal.com]

Sophos can be pretty cut-throat, too, when he feels his territory is threatened.

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

This is true. Especially when Mede Ambassadors, Annoying Kings and Chicken is involved.

[kaijuu-chan.livejournal.com]

To be perfectly frank, I'm not overly surprised. I don't know if I would have enjoyed CoK if I hadn't already loved Sophos, Gen, and everyone from previous books. I don't think it holds up as well on its own.

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

That's perhaps a fair point, but I think the other one which several people, including RJ Anderson if I'm not mistaken, have made is that we shouldn't necessarily NEED to evaluate books based on their stand-alone or not capabilities. It's in the rules for the Newbery, so sure that's one of the criteria there. But it's not in all the rules for all contests ever, and quite frankly, I don't think it ought to be!

[puppeteergirl.livejournal.com]

I actually agree that CoK has a hard time standing on its own. I think that it is a good book, but had I not read the other books first I doubt it would be among my favorite books.

Since I know the characters already, and can appreciate what is happening then (happily) it is right up there where it should be!

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

I think CoK holds up on it's own very well. However, I will say that I'm a total Gen-fan. So not enough Gen? Yes. But does that make the plot unworthy? No, not at all.
In fact, I really do think it reaches out to more people who may not necessarily be on the Gen-boat (no pun intended) with the rest of us. In fact, there are many people who like Sophos just as much as Gen or more. And it's really well written and it's own way inspiring =)
I think I would love Sophos even more, if I wasn't searching around for what Gen would do next. Not to mention how Helen/Eddis fell in love. That was really truely endearing :-)

we may not bay, but I've heard a few baas.

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

Well, who knows... I thought that was a very nice judge statement, and the other one sounds like a good book. Has anyone here read it?

ZombieGen forever!

Re: we may not bay, but I've heard a few baas.

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

Baaaa....



couldn't resist mate

Re: we may not bay, but I've heard a few baas.

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

ARF.

Re: we may not bay, but I've heard a few baas.

[stubefied-by-gd.livejournal.com]

Lovely of you to try to be nice, but when a judge admits that the book was just not their genre...

Actually, I'm beginning to wonder if all the talk of whether the book stands alone has convinced first-time readers that it doesn't, just like a cover can be convincing.

What I mean is that there are elements of confusion reading CofK, especially for the first time, and it is probably easier to assume you would totally have known what was going on if you'd read the whole series than to, you know, sit down and really think about it. Instead of saying, "I was confused; this book must be complex and sneaky; I shall have to figure it out!" they think, "I was confused; this book is part of a series; it does not stand alone."

Re: we may not bay, but I've heard a few baas.

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

Good point! I agree with this. I love the entire series because it's a puzzle and if anything stand up on it's own its CoK. It's not based on any previous story. It tells us that Gen and is friends with Sophos and that Eddis has wondered where he's been. And that's exactly where it begins. It has much more complexity. I mean you can't just go to the end and hope everything unveils itself like an episode of Scooby-Doo. But you can sit and think. And think a lot.

Perhaps it's just not an easy-read? Kid friendly? Though I know of many kids who loved it. Yet, I'm sure there are elements they didn't quite understand//appreciate that I, as an older Young Adult, did..

Re: we may not bay, but I've heard a few baas.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Well said.

Re: we may not bay, but I've heard a few baas.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Yes, good point. There's no reason somebody couldn't take Sophos's story on its own merits, even if they don't have all the backstory that makes the book so resonant for series readers. There's a lot in there that really doesn't require the previous three books to understand, and it does have a complete arc in itself, rather than being the resolution to a previous book's cliffhanger or some other aspect that makes it obviously a fragment of a larger whole.

Re: we may not bay, but I've heard a few baas.

[sgwordy.livejournal.com]

I completely agree! I hear the "stand alone" comment on each of these books (well, except TT:) and I can't quite seem to convince people that the style of the books is the opposite of spoon-feeding. It's not like, even having read the whole series multiple times, I can answer all the little questions that arise. Having something to do as a reader is a joy to me. I like to participate so I like to have to work to understand. Maybe not everyone likes this?

Ironically, for me, I think I would have liked ACoK more had I not read the other books.

Re: we may not bay, but I've heard a few baas.

[sgwordy.livejournal.com]

baa... AWESOME!

[crazededdisian.livejournal.com]

NOOOOES!!! D:

Poor CofK! I'm going to find my copy and give it a good hug. :( Oh, well. We'll win yet, Zombie!Gen!

[filkferengi]

note: "Zombie!Gen!" scans to "Macho Man."