Monday, March 16, 2009

It's March Madness Again, Baaaayyyybeeee!!!

Ah, yes, wonderful March is here again, that glorious time when the NCAA tournament fills our thoughts and TV schedules! Excitement abounds as teams battle, old rivalries come alive, and some unknown team dazzles the whole country. Last year we held a March Madness Tournament of Books; this year we're doing something different--an Author Shoot-Out! You can vote for your favorite author and win a prize for yourself!! How does it work? First, you can vote on the poll the left-hand side of the page. (you CAN vote for more than one) Then, if you send in a review of a book BY AN AUTHOR IN THE TOURNAMENT, your author will get a "three pointer," that is, that author will get 3 extra votes. PLUS---YOU will get a chance for a prize!! The three guys who send in the most reviews of books BY THESE AUTHORS will win prizes!!! Easy enough? You bet!

So the big question is---WHO ARE THE AUTHORS?

I'm glad you asked. We've chosen authors who are proven favotites with guys. We'll set them up in brackets, just like the NCAA tournamnet, and we'll start with a Sweet Sixteen. You vote for your favorites this week and next week we'll have an Elite Eight. Then we'll go to a Final Four and then the championship. You'll see the brackets in a bit, but let me first tell you who will be in the brackets:
J. K. Rowling
vs.
Kurtis Scaletta, first-time author of Mudville, a very terrific book.
Now, it may not seem fair to put a rookie against an established powerhouse, but that's what happens in the NCAA; a # 1 seed always goes against a # 16


Rick Riordan (the Percy Jackson and 39 Clues man
vs.
Suzanne Collins, author of the Gregor the Overlander series and The Hunger Games which Bill and other guys have liked a lot




Helen Hemphill, author of The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones (she came to Imaginon to speak)
vs.
Jeanne DuPrau, author of The City of Ember series (we're going to start a City of Ember book club on March 28)




Jeff Smith, creator of the awesome Bone series
vs.
Jay Piscopo, creator of the awesome Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli series

A clash of the graphic novel titans!






Dave Barry, author of Science Fair
vs.
Jeff Kinney, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid guy
Two funny guys square off!



Gordon Korman, author of the Island triolgy and One False Note, the second 39 Clues book
vs.
Dan Gutman, author of the My Weird School series





Kaza Knglsey, author of the fan-tastic Erec Rex series
vs.
Jon Scieszka, author of The Time Warp Trio series and that hilarious autobiography Knuckleheads




Neil Gaiman, author of the Newbery-winning The Graveyard Book
vs.
Jenny Nimmo, the Charlie Bone author

Two masters of fantasy in one bracket!




Here are what the brackets look like:

J. K Rowling vs//////////////Rick Riordan vs
Kurtis Scaletta////////////// Suzanne Collin

Helen Hemphill vs///////////Jeff Smith vs
Jeanne DuPrau///////////// Jay Piscopo

Dave Barry vs//////////////Gordon Korman vs
Jeff Kinney/////////////////Dan Gutman

Kaza Kingsley vs/////////////Neil Gaiman vs
Jon Scieszka////////////////Jenny Nimmo

(Yeah, these are weird-looking brackets but I couln't figure out how to make real ones
The winners of each bracket will go against the winner of the bracket directly across from it; for example, the winner of the Kaza Kingsley/Jon Scieska bracket would go against the winner of the Neil Gaiman/Jenny Nimmo bracket. Got it?

The rules are simple:
1.Vote on the poll for your favorites. You can vote more than once.
2. The boys who send in the most reviews of books BY THESE AUTHORS will get prizes. (plus your author will get 3 more points for each review)

What are the prizes?

First place will be an EREC REX T-SHIRT AND SIGNED COPIES OF THE FIRST TWO EREC REX BOOKS!!!
Second place will be FREE CAPT'N ELI GRAPHIC NOVEL AND A PACK OF CAPT'N ELI CARDS!!!
Third pace will be A FREE BOOK AND FREE COMICS!!!
All right! Have fun and-----LET THE AUTHOR SHOOT-OUT BEGIN!!
Carl

9 comments:

Kurtis said...

I do not feel good about my prospects...

Iron Guy Carl said...

Sorry, Kurtis, but that's how March Madness goes! Besides, you've got a review right underneath this post--might help your chances---maybe--possibly...

teacherninja said...

Looks like you've taken an early lead, Kurtis!

Kurtis said...

Oh, like so my own Gophers in the NCAA tourney, I'm just glad to be a part of it. :-)

Darth Corder said...

Hi Mr. Scaletta,

You may have more of a chance than you know. I tell ya J.K. not only tortured me with an overly long final Harry Potter book that was basically about arguing and camping, she also delivered in my humble opinion a very disappoining conclusion to what until that dreadful last book was a great series.I'm rooting for ya man,

A "Not to be Identified Sith"

FRL_devinwithani said...

no orson scott card?

Iron Guy Carl said...

Ooops! Well, can't have everyone. If we'd done a full 64, he might have made it.

Ms. Yingling said...

I have to give up my honorary guyhood. Reading this made the Charlie Brown "waa WAA waa" teacher voice go off in my head. Thanks for the invite, but I don't get brackets! (Looks like fun. Perhaps next year I can organize something like this in my library...)

Iron Guy Carl said...

No, no, Ms. Yingling, Honorary guyhood is too great an honor to be revoked. I didn't explain the brackets well--nor did I draw them well enough to understand! Let me know if you do something like this next year.