Over the Moon
Every year the girls’ school holds a book competition for fourth and fifth graders. Little Lion has looked forward to BOB (Battle of the Books) ever since her sister competed four years ago. The kids involved in BOB read twenty different books of various genres and reading levels and then meet weekly at lunch to discuss the books with their BOB coaches, AKA teacher and staff volunteers who are assigned one of the books. It’s a fabulous undertaking by our two amazing librarians. In February, all 60-70 kids are divided into teams and compete in an intraschool competition. There is also a written test that determines who will compete in the interschool competition.
Mini Me has made the interschool competition both years. Little Lion was nervous that she wouldn’t make it, but she did….however the interschool competition was slated to happen in March.
Never fear! Our always amazing librarians have been meeting with the interschool team weekly via video conferencing and the BOB competition is slated to take place next week. I can’t wait! It’s a much more difficult undertaking as it has to be done via zoom and in isolation to maintain integrity. AND it’s been many months since the kids have read all 20 books. However, they each have their ‘expert’ books to review (4 books that they chose).
What I love about BOB is not just that the kids are bonding over reading, but that they are discovering genres of books that they may not have been interested in before.
I asked some of the fourth graders what their favorite BOB book was (see below).
Here’s Little Lion’s fave:
Review on Over the Moon by Natalie Lloyd
By Little Lion Bookworm
I loved this book. It was a Battle of the Books school book, so I had to read it, and I'm glad I did. Over the Moon starts with introducing the character, Mallie Ramble, and her surroundings. She lives on the mountain, where Dust covers the stars and sky and brings out the worst feelings in people. Other people are introduced: the rich and rude Honor Tumbrel and his mother, Mallie's employer, Mrs. Tumbrel, who had a lot of money but doesn't pay servants enough. Mallie's family: her mother, who is caring and brave but protective of her family, her father, who lost his sight and ability to speak in the mines but loves his family very much, and her brother, Denver, cheerful, bright, and brave, proud of Mallie no matter what. But when the mysterious Guardians show up and say that in a week, if they don't pay four thousand Feathersworth, they will take Denver to the mines, Mallie is ready to do anything to keep him safe. She finds something that leads her into the West Woods every day for one thousand Feathersworth a day, and there she finds something amazing. But it only leads to trouble. This book is suspenseful, smart, and action-packed. I hope one day I'll be as good an author as Natalie Lloyd.
Shout Outs
There were many favorite BOB books that were mentioned:
Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris
Sweep by Jonathon Auxier
The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon
Finding Wonders by Jeanine Atkins
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Ahimsa by Supriya Kelkar
And I have a read-along review of Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly here and here.
