School Library Journal’s fifth annual Battle of the Kids’ Books, our online elimination contest between 16 of 2012’s best children’s and teens’ fiction and nonfiction books, has come to a close, and the winner of the Big Kahuna round—which pitted semifinalists The Fault in Our Stars and No Crystal Stair against Code Name Verity, winner of our Undead Poll—has finally been announced.
Round Three
Match 1 (March 28)
Bomb vs The Fault in Our Stars – Judged by Lynne Rae Perkins
Winner: The Fault in Our Stars
Match 2 (March 29)
Splendors and Glooms vs No Crystal Stair – Judged by James Patterson
Winner: No Crystal Stair
Round Two
Match 1 (March 22)
Bomb vs Code Name Verity – Judged by Donna Jo Napoli
Winner: Bomb
Match 2 (March 25)
Endangered vs The Fault in Our Stars – Judged by Martine Leavitt
Winner: The Fault in Our Stars
Match 3 (March 26)
Starry River of the Sky vs Splendors and Glooms – Judged by Thanhha Lai
Winner: Splendors and Glooms
Match 4 (March 27)
Seraphina vs No Crystal Stair – Judged by Paul Griffin
Winner: No Crystal Stair
Round One
Match 1 (March 12)
Bomb vs Wonder – judged by Kenneth Oppel
Winner: Bomb
Match 2 (March 13)
Code Name Verity vs Titanic – judged by Margarita Engle
Winner: Code Name Verity
Match 3 (March 14)
Endangered vs Three Times Lucky – judged by Kathi Appelt
Winner: Endangered
Match 4 (March 15)
The Fault in Our Stars vs Temple Grandin – judged by Deb Caletti
Winner: The Fault in Our Stars
Match 5 (March 18)
Jepp Who Defied the Stars vs Starry River of the Sky – judged by Adam Gidwitz
Winner: Starry River of the Sky
Match 6 (March 19)
Liar & Spy vs Splendors and Glooms – judged by Franny Billingsley
Winner: Splendors and Glooms
Match 7 (March 20)
Moonbird vs Seraphina – judged by Marie Lu
Winner: Seraphina
Match 8 (March 21)
No Crystal Stair v s The One and Only Ivan – judged by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Winner: No Crystal Stair
Fans can still comment on the results of each round over at our Battle of the Kid’s Books blog, download the illustrated brackets from the contest, and download the high-resolution versions (suitable for printing and display) of the original artwork, created by SLJ art director Mark Tuchman.
About Karyn M. Peterson
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