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So, it's a little later than I anticipated, but nominations for the 2012 Book Battle are now closed.  Last weekend was my dad's birthday and unfortunately my allergies have been TERRIBLE this year (lots and lots of headaches this season) that kept me away I little longer than I thought I would be.  Sad how real life gets in the way of blogging.  :(  But never fear, for we shall press on!

I'm currently sorting through all the nominated titles and getting Round 1 judges assigned, and will be posting the long list (hopefully) in the next few days.  So although nominations are closed, we still have spots open for judging, as I can add partners to the Round 2 brackets as we go.  So if you know anyone who might want to be a judge and hasn't volunteered yet, feel free to jump in.  Full details about that are here.  

Meanwhile, if you've volunteered to be a judge, look for an email from me soon.  And I will be announcing the winners for the linking contest soon as well.

Onward and upward!

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The close of nominations for the 2012 YA Bloggers Fairy Tale Book Battle is approaching soon, and we still need a few more volunteers and nominations for the battle this year. So to encourage those of you who haven’t participated yet, I’ve created:
It’s very easy to enter:

First, you need to nominate a book and/or sign up as a volunteer judge part of the battle. If you’ve already done either step, you’ve already qualified.

• Your email address (or another way to contact you)
• What you did (nominated a book or signed up the judge or both)
• Where you heard about the battle (who referred you)

Make sure you include ALL of that information in your comment. Incomplete entries will be deleted and you’ll have enter again. If you don’t want to/can’t comment, please send your entry to me via email to shadyglade(AT)mail(DOT)com (yes that’s just “mail” not gmail, ymail, hotmail, etc.).


The idea behind this contest is to spread the word through links. So first you will need to blog, tweet, facebook, link, email, etc about the contest. You can also grab the button in the right sidebar (over there ------>) and post it on your blog/website/whatever. If you choose to link, make sure you to this contest post directly.

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Welcome to the Nominations Page for the 2011 YA Bloggers Debut Battle! This is the place where you can nominate the book YOU think should win the battle.

 As chosen by readers, our theme this year is:

For the purposes of this battle, the definition of a "retold fairy tale" is a book that re-imagines or gives new life to a fairy tale, legend, or myth. This can also encompass books that combine more than one "traditional" tale, even if these are blended to create their new story.  The winner of this battle will be a book that breathes new life into an old favorite by being its own story, but still pays tribute to the original story.

Your nominations should follow these requirements:

1. It must be first published in English between January 1st, 2001 and December 31st, 2011. Reissues do not count if the book was first published before 2001.
2. It must be either Young Adult (or middle grade with strong teen appeal). 
3. It must be a retold fairy tale/myth/legend, or combination thereof.  
4. Only books that are first in a series are allowed.  EXCEPTION: If you're book is a later part of the series but can stand on its own (like the Once Upon A Time Series), it can count.
5. It must not be a nominee from a previous battle (if you'd like to double check, please let me know)

So, do you have a book that retells your favorite story? Fill Out the Form to place it on the nomination list.

You may nominate up to 2 different titles. If you are a teacher or librarian submitting nominations for your students (we've had a few do this in past years), please let me know in the comments section on the form so I don't delete them.  Email addresses will ONLY be used to track entries and will be deleted as soon as the nomination period is over. As a reminder, please DO NOT leave your nominations in the comments! They won't count unless you use the form.

Nominations will be open until Wednesday, May 16th (unless announced otherwise). All books nominated will be screened to check that they are eligible, then passed along to our Round 1 Judges. Round 1 will narrow down the books for brackets, and our Round 2 Judges will get started in early June. If you'd like more explanation about how the judging process works, check out this post.

 If you have any questions, feel free to email me at shadyglade(AT)mail(DOT)com.

Now, nominate away! And we still have volunteer spots open too!

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I know this is the part of the battle that many of you look forward to year after year.  It's the call for volunteers!

If you're new this year, you should know that although it's fun to watch the battle take place, half of the fun comes from participating.  I can't do this huge event all on my own, so tons of volunteers step up to pitch in and make it possible.  Last year we had over 50 people volunteer in various positions. 

So whether you're a returning participant, or a newbie, please take a minute to consider volunteering.  It's lots of fun, and I promise I'm not a slave driver (LOL). 

As a reminder to everyone who is signing up judge:  You DO NOT need to have previous judging expereience.  You also DO NOT need to have your own blog.  The only requirement is you have a love for YA books and you have the ability to critically examine them.  Teamwork is also a must need for Round 2 Judges. 

We need judges as well as a few other volunteers, so check out these open spots below:

Graphics Specialist - This volunteer will be reponsible for coming up with a logo/button for this year's battle (or finding someone else who can do it for you). They may also be responsible for creating/updating the bracket graphics as the battle progresses. This volunteer can also be a judge.

Reading Challenge Moderator - This year I will be adding a reading challenge to the festivities.  More info on this will be coming later, but I need at least one person to help keep track of points and progress.  This will be done through our battle Goodreads group pages. 
-Desired Requirements: Goodreads account (or willingness to create one), experience hosting reading challenges a plus. This volunteer can also be a judge.

And, of course, we wouldn't be anywhere without our fabulous judges. If you are new to judging this year, make sure you read this post about the judging process before you apply so you understand how the process works. 

Round 1 Judge: These judges will be responsible for reading as many of the nominated books on the longlist they can in about 3-4 weeks. They will recommend titles for the shortlist to be organized into brackets. These judges will work alone, although a few may be required to have discussions  with other Round 1 judges.
-Desired Requirements: Quick readers, willingness to borrow/buy books where needed (access to large library a plus), ability to meet deadlines on time, critical thinker.

Round 2 Judge: Second round judges will be assigned a bracket (ie two books) to read and pick a winner. Every Round 2 Judge will be working with at least one partner to pick the winner for each bracket. -Desired Requirements: Ability to finish 2 books in 2 weeks, works well with others, checks email regularly, willingness to borrow/buy books where needed (access to large library a plus), ability to meet deadlines on time, critical thinker.

Again, I want to stress that you do not need previous experience or a blog to volunteer to judge.  We welcome everyone!  :)

If you'd like to volunteer for any of these positions, please fill out the form. I will start responding hopefully by next week. At that point you will be assigned a position(s) and asked to commit to the timeline. You can apply for as many positions as you want, but you will not be given more than 2 spots.

In the meantime, please pass on the word to any of your friends who might be interested.  And come back Tuesday to start submitting your

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Well readers, things have (finally) settled down a bit at home, which means it's time to get the 2012 YA Bloggers Book Battle on the road!  As always, I want to start with a brief introduction so that those of you who are new to the battle this year can have some background info.  So what is the YA Bloggers Book Battle?

Well, it started as a crazy idea in 2010. The idea took off and before you know it, I was in the midst of organizing an epic book battle.  And strangely enough, people liked it.  So I brought it back for 2011.  And it was even more fun.  And now, here we are in year three, and by now, it's just history.  :)

The YA Bloggers Book Battle is a bracket-style judging contest. Our 2010 theme featured the best debut work of 2009 (and a little of 2010), while blog readers chose the theme for 2011 to be Best Overlooked Book. This year for 2012 blog readers have chosen the battle theme as Mythology and Fairytale Retellings.

Here's a general idea of how the battles work:

People will have a chance to nominate a book of their choice to take place in the battle. After nominations close, the books will be narrowed down by our lovely Round 1 judges. Books that make the cut will be fit into brackets for Round 2 Judges to read.

Starting in early May, each Round 2 judging panel will read the two books in their bracket and choose a winner. One will move on, one will not. It will all come down to two books in a epic book battle to choose the best!

Tentative Timeline:
To Be Announced

Updates will periodically be posted here, so if you don't follow the blog regularly, you can bookmark this page and periodically check back to see what's new.

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A few days ago I asked readers to submit their ideas for our theme for the 2012 Book Battle.  The ideas are in and now it's time for everyone to vote on their favorites.  Thank you to everyone who submitted ideas!

For those of you who are new to the battle, here's an introduction post I wrote in it's first year.  But basically, it's a bracket-style elmination competition for books.  I organize the event, but I don't have any hand in the judging or determining the winner.  Judges are selected from volunteer book bloggers, YA lit enthusiasts, and blog readers.  Each bracket is judged by a new set of volunteers, who choose which book will move on, and which book does not.  This is the 3rd battle at The Shady Glade, and each year has had a different theme. 

So, with that quick intro out of the way, it's time to detail out the options for this year's battle.  There's a form at the bottom of this post (or you can find it here).  Please fill it out to pick your favorite ideas.  It's really short, only takes a minute, and I count on as much participation as possible to do this!  Voting will remain open until Saturday, April 15th at midnight PDT (or earlier if particpation slacks off). 
The winning ideas determines how many volunteers we will need, and the other organizations I have to set up behind the scenes, so once we know our winner I will be sending out a call for volunteers. 

Here are descriptions of each option detailed in the poll.  You can pick no more than 2 favorites (since we have several new suggestions this year).  If you have any questions, please ask. 

Let the games begin!

Best Debut Author Title of 2011 - This would mark the return of 2010's theme for another year.  This battle features books by authors whose first book was published during 2011. 

Mythology retellings - With the surge of books that are based on fairy tales, legends, and various mythology, this battle will pit these types of books against each other to determine an ultimate winner.

Good books with horrible covers - You know how you always hear "don't judge a book by it's cover"?  This battle gives those books that you would never think to pick up off the shelf a chance.  What gems are hidden beneath the horrendous cover art?  And which book is best of them all?   

Book Academy Awards - This takes the idea of the Academy Awards to the YA book market.  Several categories including best male character, best female character, best supporting character will battle it out for a winner, similiar to our Readers' Choice Awards this past year.  This will feature several "mini brackets" with several winners, one for each category.


Best of the Genre - In this battle, books will be broken up by genre to battle for the best of their kind in 2011. What was the best fantasy published last year? Best historical? Best parnormal? This will feature several "mini brackets" with several winners, one for each category.

Best sequel - Know of a book in a series that was better than the first?  Which recently published book outshines it's predessessor.  This theme will require judges to read 4 books, the original and the sequel for both sides of the bracket. 

Read-alike Versus Battles - This idea will sh

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Well, here it is battle fans. The moment you've been waiting for. It's time to announce the winner of the 2011 YA Bloggers Debut Book Battle. If you haven't had a chance to yet, take a peek at the Reader's Choice Awards. And then proceed to see who wins.

Bracket 24:
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper VS. StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Judged by Emily from What Book Is That? and Amber of Amber's Teen Reads



VS.

After several months, lots of intense rounds of judging, it's come to the final bracket. An undefeated contest comes up against a highly acclaimed book that was eliminated early, but was granted a new chance at the winning spot in Series 4. So which book would win?

It certainly wasn't an easy a choice. Judge Emily had this to say about the two contenders:

"This was a tough choice, as in my opinion both books were excellent in their own ways. They're from two totally different genres- one is a realistic contemporary narrated by a young girl with cerebral palsy, and one is a fantasy adventure, narrated by a sneak-thief with magical abilities."

Judge Amber had this to add:

"In StarCrossed, Elizabeth C. Bunce created a whole world around the suppression of magic, sneak thieves and mayhem. Bunce created a world where silver jewelry can help hide magical powers from those who want to squash magic. She created a character named Digger who had to stop trying to hide and not take sides in the war against magic and determine where she stood.

While in Out of My Mind, Sharon M. Draper urged us to look beyond what we see to the person inside others. We met a girl named Melody who has Cerebral Palsy and is seemingly locked inside her own mind. With the help of an amazing aide, a neighbor and her parents, Melody receives the tools she needs to show everyone she is brighter than anyone gave her credit for."

So do you think you know who the winner is? Scroll down to see the answer:





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The winner of the 2011 YA Bloggers Book Battle is...





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Thanks to a very observant commenter, I realized this afternoon that I have neglected to post the final winners from the 2011 YA Blogger Debut Book Battle.  Whoops!  It was my intention to post these at the beginning of the month.  Unfortunately, with the delay last week I kind of forgot.  So today we have the winners of the Reader's Choice Awards and tomorrow will be the final battle winners.

Now, before I move on to the winners, I have a little disclaimer to go along with these.  In the end, not a lot of people ended up voting, so some of the categories were pretty cut and dry (Reader's Choice was almost unanimous) and some were a little more split.  So if you don't agree with the choices and you didn't vote, you should vote next time!  :)

Now without further ado, here's the winners of the Reader's Choice Awards!


Best Setting: Bellezza from City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman

The majority of all of the Stravangaza books takes place in Talia, and alternative version of our Renaissance Italy. But of all of the books from that series I've read, I have to agree that Bellezza is one of my favorites. Patterned after historical Venice, this would be a place I would love to visit. Except for the whole having to wear a mask thing. I think that would get old eventually...



Best Cover Art: Stork by Wendy Delsol

There's some great cover art in our group of finalists, but I have to agree that this is one of my favorites.  It really backs up the fairy tale feeling to the book, don't you think?  Blue isn't necessarily one of my favorite colors, but I think it works really well in this situation.

Honorable mention: Intrinsical by Lani Woodland (also a blue cover!)



Best Villian: Lord Daul from StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce

This category was no contest. Sadly, I still have not had the opportunity to read StarCrossed myself yet (it's on the top of my TBR list though), but this Lord Daul sounds like quite the nasty character. With over 40% of the vote in this category, this dude must be majorly ba

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Thanks to everyone who voted on the Reader's Choice Awards poll. The input has been tallied, and we now are ready to vote! As we wait with baited breath to see which of the two finalists win the final bracket in Series 5, it's time for YOU to play judge.

There are 10 awards being given in the following categories: Reader's Choice, Best Cover Art, Most Likely To Re-Read, Most Overlooked, Most Unique, Best Main Character, Best Villain, Best Romance, Weirdest/Most Quirky Character, and Best Setting. You can choose any of the 24 final nominees from Round 2 as your votes. If you need a refresher about which books are eligible, cover art, plot, etc. they are all posted in our Goodreads Group bookshelf page.

To vote, fill out the Google form below (or follow this link). You are required to give your email address, but that's just to track duplicate entries and will be deleted as soon as the voting closes. Voting will be open until August 22nd at midnight.

Remember that even if you haven't read all (or even any) of the nominations, you can still vote for the awards. A vote is not required for every award, so you can pick and choose which ones to do. There's also a box for you to explain any of your choices if you wish to do so.

Questions? Let me know. Otherwise go vote! This is your chance to let your opinion be heard!

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So you know how when it rains, it pours? After all the excitement I mentioned in the last results post, I had my computer get a virus or something that  s   l   o   w   e   d  it down to the point of a crawl. So all of this week I could only access the internet from my phone. Which, although I can do a lot of things, isn't very conduscive to blogging. Ugh.

So now that things are running a little bit smoother, it's time to announce the winners of Series 4. Hey, better late than never, right? We're getting down to the final deicisions here, and the Series 5 judges are already busy on their books. The end is near!

Bracket 22
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper VS. Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner
Judged by ReaganStar of Star Shadow Blog and Melissa of Mel's Books and Info

If there's two book in this battle that have been credited for being the most heartwarming, it's these two. And now that we're down the wire, they've finally come head to head. But alas, only one can move on. It was a hard decision, but ultimately our judges were able to agree on a choice.

Here's what Judge Melissa had to say about both books:

"The both of these novels are remarkable works of fiction, but I think what was our ultimate deciding factor was memorability. [The winning book] is a novel that sticks with you. Long after you have turned that last page, you can't get [the main character] out of your mind."

So which book made it to the next round? Our first finalist for Series 5 is... Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper!

Bracket 23
Stravaganza: City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman VS. StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Judged by Misty from Book Rat and Kate formerly of The Neverending Shelf and now co-blogger at The Book Monsters

A few weeks ago our readers choice StarCrossed as the eliminated title to return during this bracket. With a fresh competitor and a new set of judges would it have a second chance, or was it doomed to be defeated as before?

Judge Misty had this to say about her judging experience this year:

"It was interesting, judging between the two, because in a lot of ways, they are very similar. Both are about courtly intrigue and secrets, and magic where there should be none. And they weren't paired together because of that. This was purely luck of the draw.

It made for a sort of introspective judging experience for me, because I had to sometimes ask myself how the reading of one was coloring the reading of the other - was I treating them as their own, separate books? - while at the same time, there is a very clear side-by-side comparison opportunity. It was easy to say, Oh, well, X definitely did ________ better than Y..."

So which book would move on? In a surprise turn of events, the second finalist for this year's battle is... StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce!

So a previously defeated book moves on, and becomes one of our finalists, while the other in an undefeated strong cont

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Those of you who follow our Goodreads group for the battle have already heard about this, but it's time to share with everyone.

New to the battle this year, I've instituted the Reader's Choice Awards category.  To help fill the time between now and when the final winner is announced, I'm giving you the choice to have your say in choosing the top books from our battle finalists.

About a month ago I asked for suggestions from our Goodreads group members for categories they'd like to see for a series of Reader's Choice Awards.  Well, now it's time to vote on what awards will make the final cut.  Fill out the Google form below (or click the link) to pick the categories you'd like to give as awards this year. There's also a spot for you to pick your own.  Pick up to 5 categories.  Those with the most votes will become actual awards this year.

I'm tracking entries by email address, so you will need to enter that.  Don't worry though, they will be deleted as soon as entries are closed this Saturday at midnight.  So vote now while  you still have a chance!
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So this is super, super late in being posted.  Unfortunately, my life took a turn for the crazy the last few weeks.  Without getting into gory details it involved major sunburns, borderline anaphylactic shock, some nasty rashes, a broken car, a local festival, a crafting class, and then all the normal stuff you would expect, like work.  Phew.  Anyway, thanks to our awesome, awesome, totally and utterly amazing judges, the battle has been proceeding on even with my crazy life, so the only thing that's behind so far is announcing winners.  So without further ado, let's work on getting caught up, shall we?

Bracket 19
Intrinsical by Lani Woodland VS. Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Judged by Linda of Most Important Letter

I think this third round is where decisions start to get really tough. The first two series almost unavoidable have some easy choices, even though the finalists had already passed one rigorous round of judging. But here we have two very highly praised books, finally pitted against each other. Which one would triumph?

Judge Linda had this to say about the process:

"Let me first tell you how difficult it is to choose if a book is better than another. Honestly, who can be the judge of that? I mean, as long as the book is written well (developed plot and characters with correct grammar and so forth), books are generally the same. All it weighs on from that moment on is the judge’s taste. So that’s why I was so surprised by my choice for the winner"

So which book did it come down to? The winner is... Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper! And so the highly rated Intrinsical is ultimately defeated, but it sounds like an awesome book anyway, so you should check it out.


Bracket 20
Song Of The Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell VS. Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner
Judged by Jennifer of Reading With Tequila

Did I mention that these brackets are getting harder to judge? Both of these books came highly praised by our previous judges. They're also both very different, one a fantasy novel in prose and the other an emotionally touching historical novel. But only one can move on...

Judge Jennifer states that for her, at least, it was an easy choice:

"Choosing between Threads and Flames and Song of the Sparrows was an easy decision. One book took things I couldn't even pretend to be interested in and made me care deeply and passionately about them. The other took something I loved and made it less exciting and harder to read than it should have been. "

So which one came out unscathed? The winner for this bracket is Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner! I have to admit I was a little surprised this book has made it this far. Although I loved it, it almost got cut in Round 1, since it didn't come super highly recommended by those Round 1 judges who had a chance to read it. Still, it did make the cut, and here it is now! Threads and Flames moves on to Bracket 22, where it will battle it out against

3 Comments on Book Battle: Round 2 Series 3 Winners, last added: 8/4/2011

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M.A.D. said, on 8/3/2011 10:12:00 PM

Wow - it sounds like you've been put through the wringer, girl! Hope things are happily resolved/settling down :D

Heidi Noel said, on 8/4/2011 7:50:00 AM

I was actually pretty upset by the fact that Intrinsical got beat out. The judge was solo and the book it was up against was not as good. I will try and enjoy but I am really bugged!

Lieder Madchen said, on 8/4/2011 1:39:00 PM

Yay for City of Masks! I love that book. :)

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