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