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Well, cyber kid, that was a review, so you get 3 extra points!If you want more points, send in some more. That goes for everyone else, too!

Yo ho ho and looking for more reviews,

Carl

PS Hey, cyber kid, why don't you get the other guys in your book club to write to us? I thnk it would awesome!

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Hey, one and all, we have new comments from an old friend--Mikie, otherwise known as Lord Vader. He's been writing to us for a long time and good to have him back. (I wonder if he knows a five-year-old Sith wrote in yesterday) Let's hear what he has to say:



Dear Mr. Duggin,
Thanks so much for responding to one of my posts. My mom tells me she remembers you from when she watched wrestling and says you are one of the wrestlers she thought was a really good role model. I can't wait for the new Percy Jackson book either. I didn't know the name of it until I read your post. Sorry it took so long to write back, my whole family has been sick off and on for months and I can't go onto any site without my mom to watch what I am doing. I also just finished reading my first chapter book (on my own, the others I've posted about my mom read to me before bed). It was Da Wild, Da Crazy DaVinci by Jon Szeiska. I love Time Warp Trio books, reading them is great and then I can check out the episode I just read on television. I loved Leonardo's tank invention in chapter one. After I read about him in the book my mom took me to some websites about him to look at drawings of his inventions and also some of his art. I didn't know much of his art until I saw the Mona Lisa painting. I also want to know if I can place votes in for books in the series that I have read or if it has to be from the few you have on the blog site.
Mikie (aka Lord Vader)



I'm sorry your family was sick. Hope you didn't get anything bad. Is everyone else doing all right now? I'm glad that you're reading on your own. I'm also glad that your mom took you to some Leonardo sites--we've always believed that reading broadens your world and you just proved it! It also looks like you found out how our contest works:

My vote will be for Harry Potter series, I read some of the others but they didn't make it through. My vote would probably be for the Clone Wars though but I haven't read one of them yet. I plan on picking one up this week to check it out. I loved watching the series on television but I didn't know they had a book series as well. I'm also sorry to see Percy Jackson didn't make the cut, I didn't know about the contest until a little while ago.
Mikie (aka Lord Vader)

Yeah, I'm sorry that Percy Jackson didn't make it, but he couldn't have had a more worthy opponent than The Chronicles of Narnia. I really love those books. I can't wait for the Prince Caspian movie! BTW, Lord Vader, you can still get points by writing reviews! 3 points for each one!!! That applies to everyone else in blogland. Let's do it!!
Carl

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Hey, everybody, we have a comment from a new friend, kris-the-half-blood-dev-the-sith: (actually, it's from two people--you'll see)



First off I wold like to say that I'm a girl. I read The Lightning Theif and recently The sea of monsters to my little brother Devin ( he is 5 now and can not type). His freind told my mum abot this site and Dev wanted me to type for him. He is amazed with 'Geek'mythology now like me and my mum told him "Great, we have a mini-Kris now..." He made me read it to him three times now and refused to go to bed without annother part in the story. oh an he says HI... ^_^



Thanks, Kris and Dev. We've had girls write in to us before, notably Melanie, our coworker. This is the first time we've had a sister-and-brother-team, though!! For writing to us, Kris, we'll give you the greatest honor we can bestow and make you an Honorary Guy. (We did that for Melanie)

I'm glad Dev likes Percy Jackson. You're the youngest Lightning Thief/Sea of Monsters fan I've known. (Did you see this, Mr. Riordan??) You know that I'm a big fan. Have you read The Titan's Curse yet? Did you know the new Percy Jackson book will be here in about a month!!!! I can't wait!!!

Darth Bill will be pleased to know that we have a young sith reading our blog. In fact, Dev may be the youngest sith ever!!

Keep writing to us,
Carl
PS--have you looked at our March Madness of Books Contest?

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And, man, did I have a good time! North Myrtle Beach is a really cool and fun place. How fun is it? Check this out: This place is so much fun that the food seasons itself! And no one cares what you look like:

...but look, I'm not afraid. Even as they swooped in to attack, I stood firm and laughed in the face of danger because I had my secret inter-dimensional, ultra-sonic, hyper-phasic weapon handy......in other words, I had some leftover french fries to throw them.

Well, enough of this. I did get to finish the second Barnstormers book before I left and it was fantastic!!! It's called Game 2: The River City and continues the story from Game 1: Porkopolis (see the post from March 20) The Payne family has moved from to Louisville, Kentucky, the River City with their baseball team, the Travelin' Nine, to play another exhibiton game and raise money. Strange things start happening again in the middle of the game, but the Payne kids realize that those weird things are connected with their father's baseball, which really is magic. If they learn to use the ball, the team could win. Can they do it? And why does their Uncle Owen tell them to "Beware the Chancellor" and "Don't let him find out about the baseball"? Could it have something to do with the "great danger" he warned them about? And why do mysterious people suddenly appear and then are gone when the kids try to talk to them? Mystery, suspense, sports, magic--this book has it all!! Go read it!!

There's some exciting things to tell you about the March Madness of Books contest, but I'm too busy right to write about it now.
Stay tuned, keep writing, and send in those 3-pointers!
Carl

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Hi all,
Well, the The Boys Rule Boys Read Book Series Tournament has been interesting, to say the least. Some unexpected upsets and crazy twists, but, hey, that's how these tournament things go (look how far Davidson went in the NCAA Tournament--they almost even took out mighty Kansas). Well, now it's time to vote to see who plays in the championship. You, the posters in Blogland and paper voters via ImaginOn, determine who. Oh, there are also the really cool prizes to be won. Let the games begin:



Right Side Game:


The Harry Potter Series (seed 1) Vs. Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures (seed 3):



The Harry Potter Series

Left Side Game:


The Chronicles of Narnia (seed 6) Vs. The Undeland Chronicles (seed 7)


The Chronicles of Narnia

Vs.

So let the voting begin to see who will play for The Championship!!!!!!

Here are the rules once again:

1) The books that are going against each other will move to the next round if they receive the most votes from you guys.

2) Everyone who wants to (adults and girls also) can vote by responding to this blog and voting for the books in each match-up they would like to see go on in the tournament.

3) Multiple voting by the same individual for a particular book is not allowed. One vote for each match-up.

4) Voting will start with the posting of this blog entry. Voting from bloggers will be allowed for that day and for 8 following days (fourth round votes due by 9:00 p.m. Monday, April 7) . Also if you can get by ImaginOn, we will have paper handouts that you can use to vote.

5) You will notice that the books are seeded. What this means is the books with the higher seeds (1 being highest, 8 being lowest) are expected to go further in the tournament. Those with lower number are expected to make early exits. However, who goes on and who goes home will be determined by your votes.

6) Finally, prizes will be awarded to the one who votes for the most books that go the furthest. In the case of a tie, the number difference between upsets will be used to determine the ultimate winner (say someone picks a seed 8 to beat a seed 1, that would give them 7 points for a tie-breaker, etc.). Also the three pointer can be used to give voters more points (3 points).

7) Let me stress the 3 pointer once again!!!! One review gives the writer the equivalent of 3 right votes. Lets say you have 8 points now on the Leader Board ; one review would up you score to 11 points (the number of points the leaders have now). This is a powerful tool in the tournament!

8) Also remember the prizes for the 3 highest on the Leader Board!!!! First place will be an autographed T-shirt from the UNCC Men's Basketball Team. Second place will be an autographed poster. 3rd prize will be a book of your choosing (softcover) from all the contenders in the tournament. If you live near in the Charlotte area, you could come to Imaginon to claim your prize, If you live out of town or can't get to Imaginon, we will send your prize to you.

9) That's it all. So get in there and vote for your favorite books and more importantly have fun!!!!!!

Well that's all I have time for right now (I think I just saw the Lagamorph in the library. Gotta get my trusty two-sided lightsaber in case he is looking for trouble.

Peace all,

Bill

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Hey, guys, just wanted to let you know that I'll be on vacation too. I won't leave town until Sunday but I'l be gone from the library on Friday. So keep writing and voting. Don't forget that you get three extra points for every review you send in. Don't stop writing because Bill and I aren't here. Bill will be back Tuesday and he'll catch up on things. I might even check in before Sunday. But don't forget that the deadline for voting on this round ends at 9:00pm Tuesday, March 25. (Bill will be back and he'll figure the results)

Our friends at the Guys Read blog often have a What I'm Reading Now post. Well, here's my What I'm Taking to Read on Vacation list:

The King's Fifth by Scott O'Dell. I told you earlier that I was reading a book called The Black Pearl by Scott O'Dell. Well, I liked it and I like the author too so, if I like this book, I'll make a Scott O'Dell post and talk about those two books.

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham--an old, old book but it looks good. A fictionalized biography of Nataniel Bowditch, who lived in the days of the tall-masted sailing ships. He went to sea when he was 12 and eventually learned to navigate ships so well that he became a living legend. This book the Newberry medal as Best Book of its year.

And I might finish the second Barnstormers book while I have the car worked on tomorrow. This second one is good!!

Well, like Harry Carey, the great baseball announcer said whenever someone hit a homer,''He's going ...he's going...he's outta there!"



Keep swinging for the outfield,



Carl

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Okay, I spelled a word wrong on the last blog!!! Well, Excuse Me!!!!!! (I think I might actually cry --- and I mean it; no joking) Let me explain; basically, Blogger was really messing with my mind and my typing. That's why that particular blog looks so bizarre. I tell you, it was like fighting a Vespin Windingo from the planet Fabio!!!!! Anyway the post got out finally and, despite it's look, I swear I was in my right mind----well, as right as it gets)!!!!
Errrrrrrr, Sith do not suffer humiliation well!!!! I will have my revenge!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, maybe I'm overreacting; let me find my happy place!!!! Composure, breathe, and now, the Final Eight:




As you may remember, we had a tie between The Percy Jackson Series and The Time Warp Trio Series, so that means we go into overtime. What is overtime, you ask? Well, we vote again berween Percy Jackson and the the Time Warp Trio, with the winner moving on and the loser going home. Plus, whichever series you pick will go against The Chronicles of Narnia to move to the next round. So if you pick The Percy Jackson or the Trio to win and then pick them to beat Narnia, you better hope you picked right for the overtime game. Here we go:

Right Side Overtime Game:

The Percy Jackson Series (seed 1) Vs. The Time Warp Trio Series (seed 8):

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Very good! We have votes fom cyber kid 303 for the Sweet 16 of Books! I've been waiting to hear from you, cyber kid. Missed you at the Davy Crockett program Tuesday. (I'll post something about that sometime soon) Here are cyber kid's picks:

Here are my picks:
Harry Potter
Captain Underpants
Matt Christopher
Bone Series
Time Warp Trio
Chronicles of Narnia
Charlie Bone
Spiderwick Chronicles

Good choices. I don't have time to figure results up now and have received more paper ballots in the last couple of hours, so I really wonder which books will go on to the next round.

Our friends at the Guys Read blog often write about What I'm Reading Now. It's a good idea. Several of them like realistic adventure stories, so they'll be pleased to know that I'm reading one called The Black Pearl by Scott O'Dell. Looks good so far. It's about pearl divers in Baja California, that strip of land in Mexico below California. There's supposed to be a giant manta ray in the story, so it ought to be quite an adventure. If it's good, I'll write about it as a good pick ACCording to Carl.
That's me!
PS--have you ever written to the Guys Read blog, cyber kid?

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All right!! we have 4 more people sending in their votes. The first is Kristie:

Left:
Harry Potter (which pains me that you've made me choose between my two favorite series so quickly. blast!)
Artemis Fowl
Matt Christopher
Bone
Right:
Percy Jackson
The Chronicles of Narnia
Charlie Bone
Underland

Thanks, Kristie! The next three are from our friends at the Guys Read Blog. There's Koko B. Ware:

Game 1: Harry
Game 2: Artemis
Game 3: Star wars
Game 4: Jack sparrow
Game 1: Lightning
Game 2: Eragon
Game 3: Charlie
Game 4: Gregor
Awesome Idea
from Koko .B Ware Guysread

And Ricky zee Dragon:

For game 1: Harry potter
For game 2: Artemis fowl
For game 3: Matt Christopher
For game 4: Jack sparrow
For game 1: Lightning thief all the way.
For game 2: Eragon
For game 3: Charlie brown
For game 4: Gregor the Overlander
A 3rd vote from guys read!!!!

And Andre the Giant:

Game 1: I would hope that the Dark Materials Trilogy will win, mark 1 for me. But Harry Potter will win mainly because people are very prejudiced on the Dark Materials Trilogy.
Game 2: I think and hope Artemis Fowl will win, because no one likes Captain Underpants anymore.
Game 3: I hope the Matt Cristopher books will win, but I think it'll be a close call.
Game 4: I think and hope the Jack Sparrow books will win because, the movies are extremely popular.
Game 1(right): I think the Percy Jackson series will dominate, only because Rick Riordan is such a talented author.Game 2(right): I hope the Narnia books will win because they are classics.
Game 3(right): I'm going for Beet, because I enjoy different tastes of genres.
Game 4(right): I'm going for the Spiderwick only because I have not heard about Gregor the Overlander.
Another vote from Guys Read!

Good work, everyone! Tomorrow ends the first round, so we'll tabulate the results and tell you which books go on to the next round. (by the way, we printed some paper brackets here at the library which people have filled out, so what you see aren't all the votes!)
Thanks, you all. You make this fun.
Carl

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Hey, all you March Madness lovers! It's Carl, back from a long battle with some kind of virus. It tried to defeat me but Carl the Brave, Carl the Bold, Carl the Finally Got Enough Sense To See His Doctor triumphed!!! Now that I'm back, I see that we have two submissions already for the brackets in the Sweet 16 of Books. The first votes come from Danna:

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Vote for His Dark Materials or get eaten by Iorek Byrnison!!!




Hi all it is I, the dunkenest Sith Lord in the whole entire universe, Darth Bill!!!! Well to go along with the theme of a basketball tournament, I thought we might do here on the blog a book series tournament. So without further adieu, here is The Boys Rule, Boys Read Sweet 16 Book Tournament.







Now this bracketing did not come out as big as I would have liked so to help here are the match-ups seen up close and personal:

Game 1 on the Left Side:

The Harry Potter Series (seed 1) Vs. His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass, etc.) (seed 8)














Game 2 on the Left Side:

The Artemis Fowl Series (seed 4) Vs. The Captain Underpants Series (seed 5)

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This episode is part our Publishers’ Showcase, a special series of interviews with children’s book publishers, which we are running during the weeks of July 2 and July 9 2007.

A publisher was once asked how someone could start a small children’s book publishing company in Canada. The response… “start a big one and wait”.

On this edition of Just One More Book, Mark speaks with Rick Wilks about the thirty-two year evolution of his independent children’s book publishing company, Annick Press, from two books per year by kids for kids to thirty amazing titles each year. You can learn more about Annick Press by visiting their website, annickpress.com.

Photo: Annick Press

Tags:Annick Press, childrens books, publishers showcase, Rick WilksAnnick Press, childrens books, publishers showcase, Rick Wilks

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