The first match has been decided! Bomb v Wonder, judged by Kenneth Oppel.

My guess: “Prediction: Bomb. I have not read Wonder, and since Oppel has written historical fiction, I thought, hey, he might like the history book.”

Long story short? I WAS RIGHT!!!!

Let me gloat for having a perfect record of guessing in SLJ BoB 2013. That perfection will end soon, so let me enjoy it while I can.

Roger Sutton has gone on record that he hopes that SLJ BoB is not “you’re so pretty, no, you’re so pretty.”

Oppel writes a lot about what the strengths of both books. He does touch on flaws (“My only general quibble is that Wonder’s characters are all perhaps a little too wise and noble, and exude so much emotion that I felt relatively little of my own“, is that “the dress is prettier on the hanger” or what?).

But what I liked especially was the foreshadowing of why Oppel likes nonfiction (when he reads it): “As a writer, I always mean to read more non fiction. When I do I’m usually richly rewarded — not just by learning fascinating new things, but by getting great ideas I can filch for future books. I like to think I’ve got a pretty good imagination, but I find that real stories almost invariably contain incidents more amazing and outlandish than the ones I could invent.”

Just as interesting are the official comments by the Kid Judge: “Firstly, I don’t really like the brackets all too much. They not only pit children’s books against adult books.” I’m looking forward to which of the titles the Kid deems as “adult”!

And finally, read the comments because guidancecounselorfiction? Best. snarky. description. ever. I shall steal it.