And The Answer Is...

This week's question was…

In which book does the main character learn a shocking secret about her ancestry?

And the answer is…

Cinder

by

Marissa Meyer

or 

Death Catchers
by
Jennifer Anne Kogler


Here are the teams who got this week's question correct

 Gateway Science Academy
Cross Keys Middle
Rockwood South Middle
Hazelwood West Middle
Ft. Zumwalt North Middle
Parkway Northeast Middle
Oakville Middle
Fulton School at St Albans
Valley Park Middle
Brentwood Middle
St Clare of Assisi
Wentzville Middle
Hazelwood North Middle
Holman Middle
Hazelwood Northwest Middle
Pattonville Heights Middle 
Hixson Middle
Hazelwood Central Middle
Ladue Middle

Evidently this was a heavily debated answer (which is one of the reasons it was cut from the battle's question and given to the blog). Congrats to all the schools who answered this question both Cinder and Death Catchers was accepted. 

Make sure to check back next Monday for another Question of the Week.

and 
Please leave your answers in the comments unless you have a problem then email 
areawidebb@gmail.com
not Mrs. Harder

Question of the Week

Welcome to the first Question of the Week the 8th Annual Area-Wide Book Battle.

This week's question is…

In which book does the main character learn a shocking secret about her ancestry?

Remember

Include in your answer…

Title of book (as it appears on the official book list)

Author's name (as it appears on the official book list)

The name of your school

The answer to this week's question will be posted on Friday along with all the schools who answered the question correctly.

A new question will be posted again next Monday.

It's Coming!!!!

It's a new year and four months until the 

8th Annual Area-Wide Book Battle 

So to get you ready for the battle ahead !!!!

Here  is a

Starting next Monday the Area-Wide Book Battle will once again

run 

The Question of the Week Contest

The contest is open to all registered teams.

Rules

Every Monday a new question will be posted

Teams will leave one answer per school in the comments

Remember to include with your answer

the name of your school

and

the title of the book (as listed on official BB list)

the author's name (as listed on official BB list)

The school with the most correct answers at the end of the contest will be recognized and presented with a prize at the Book Battle.  Good luck and good reading.

Featured Book of the Week #15 The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Feature Book of the Week

The Girl of Fire and Thorns
by
Rae Carson 

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.
Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do

About the Author

When I was three I was moved to tears by the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I felt so bad for Rudolph that I went through the picture book and scratched out his bright red nose to make him like all the other reindeer. It would be years before I realized that physical conformity was not the answer to my social problems.

When I was eight I cut my first class. I pretended I needed to use the bathroom and snuck over to the library to check out another Nancy Drew book. I lost track of time, got back to class late, and made up a story about being constipated.

I’ve been making up stories ever since. And it was sometime during my third grade year that I first told my parents I wanted to be a writer. They told me it was wonderful idea, but I needed to have a Plan B.

We moved a lot; I have attended nine schools. Some kids who move a lot learn to make friends fast, to be adaptable and flexible and brave. I wasn’t one of those. I entered middle school a very frightened little girl. It didn’t help that I developed a raging case of acne for the other kids to mock, or that I thought the best way to defend myself from social attack was to perfect a scathing offense. I was just like Rudolph, except meaner.

When seventh grade rolled around, I decided I’d had enough. I would figure out how to be cool or die trying. So, I tried out for the cheerleading squad.

I was clumsy and awkward. I had to work harder than everyone else to master the most basic moves. At the tryout, though, we could get extra points for making up the words to our own cheer. I knew I had to take advantage of this, my only possible strength. So while the other girls were yelling, “Go, Dolphins!” I started off with “United we stand, divided we fall!” I squeaked onto the team. At the time, I was convinced it was my moving and poetical cheer that clinched it for me.

Cheerleading changed my life. Seriously.

I learned how to be unafraid in front of the entire school. I learned how thrilling it was to entertain others. And I learned—very gradually and with a lot of messing up—that a little kindness goes a long way when you’re trying to work as a team.

I started off the worst cheerleader who ever lived. Because in addition to being bossy and uncooperative, I was taller than everyone else on my squad. So I got stuck in the back and on the end for most of our formations. Turns out, this provides a wonderful vantage for watching your team lose. And it turns out that when you are wrapped up in team play, you tend to miss a lot of cheerleading cues. So I was out of step with everyone most of the time.

But to this day, I love watching sports, particularly college football and basketball. (Go Ohio State Buckeyes!)

College was a huge improvement. I loved being surrounded by peers who valued thinking and introspection. I learned that you can be a hardcore academic and still paint the town on weekends. I had my first real boyfriend, and I was able to accept the rather stunning fact that I had swanned into something kind of nice. I highly recommend college.

During this time I traded in my pom-pons for a football. I played in the women’s flag league for four years. The first year, I broke three bones and my team tied for last place. The third year, we won the championship.

I was amazed at how even clumsy, unathletic women like us could make such improvements with nothing but hard work and the carefree attitude that if we were going to fail, we were going to do it spectacularly. I overcame my depth perception issues and learned to catch a long-bomb pass in the end zone with seconds left to play, for instance. (I’m not going to lie: I still throw like a girl.) I blame football for the fact that I tend to write about young women who overcome physical inadequacies to find the hero within.

I graduated college with a degree in Social Science–which qualified me to flip burgers–and a mound of education debt. I still didn’t know what I wanted to do when I grew up.

Well, that’s not true. I did know. I wanted to be a novelist. But that just wasn’t practical, and I had to come up with something else. I had to have a Plan B. So I tried bank tellering, secretarial work, customer service, inside sales, substitute teaching, data entry, logistics, and even machine shop-ing. I didn’t enjoy any of it.

In 2004, after quitting a very high paying job in a very toxic atmosphere, I decided to get serious about writing. It was the only thing I kept coming back to, the one thing that had held my interest over time and distance and lots of life change. So I joined the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror where I met my future best friends, my future husband, and my calling.

I spent the next few years happily writing awful stuff. During this time, I got to know C.C. Finlay online, and after going on three real-life dates, I moved from California to Ohio to marry him. The writing became a lot less awful, and eventually I sold my first novel to Greenwillow/HarperCollins.

Hindsight is easy, I know, and writing about the awkwardness of adolescence is way easier than living it. But I can say unequivocally that although growing up is hard, it’s totally worth it. It’s possible to become your better self. And dreams, no matter how impractical, are made to be pursued.

(author info retrieved from author web site)

Feature Book of the Week #13 The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanan

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 Feature Book of the Week

Running Dream

by Wendelin Van Draanan

Jessica thinks her life is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. She's not comforted by the news that she'll be able to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg. Who cares about walking when you live to run?

As she struggles to cope with crutches and a first cyborg-like prosthetic, Jessica feels oddly both in the spotlight and invisible. People who don't know what to say, act like she's not there. Which she could handle better if she weren't now keenly aware that she'd done the same thing herself to a girl with CP named Rosa. A girl who is going to tutor her through all the math she's missed. A girl who sees right into the heart of her.

With the support of family, friends, a coach, and her track teammates, Jessica may actually be able to run again. But that's not enough for her now. She doesn't just want to cross finish lines herself—she wants to take Rosa with her.

A Guest Post by Wendelin Van Draanen

The Running Dream was a book I didn’t want to write. I believe in hope and optimism and that we should embrace the joys of life, and the story idea of a girl who lives to run losing one of her legs seemed depressing and dark and…awful.

But the idea wouldn’t let me go. I first got it on the flight home after running the New York City marathon. (Despite having now completed six marathons, I am not “a marathoner.”  I swear after every marathon that it’s my last.  I tell myself to do more sensible things…like yoga, or weight lifting, or walk on the beach. Still, I always come back to running.)

At every marathon I’ve seen runners who are structurally challenged. People with one atrophied leg. People with odd, painful looking gaits. People who are blind, running with a sighted runner. People with prosthetic limbs. And I marvel at how determined these people must be to complete a 26.2 mile race. How incredible they are…and what a wimp I am!

So the idea for The Running Dream simmered in my head for quite some time. I was compelled by the notion that this could happen to anyone. Then I came up with the idea of Rosa—a girl born with cerebral palsy and confined to a wheelchair, overlooked by her classmates, wanting to be seen for herself instead of her disability. It was putting the popular girl and the special needs girl together at the same table that convinced me that this was a story worth exploring. And when I finally dared to meet my character, Jessica, on the first page where she’s certain life is no longer worth living, I was done for. I became obsessed with the story, with bringing Jessica back into life, and with her desire to bring Rosa along with her.

The ironic thing about this book is that, while the idea for it seemed so dark and depressing at the onset, it turned out to be an uplifting story of triumph, compassion, friendship, and hope. I’m so glad I wrote it.

About the Author 

Books have always been a part of Wendelin Van Draanen's life. Her mother taught her to read at an early age, and she has fond memories of story time with her father, when she and her brothers would cuddle up around him and listen to him read stories.

Growing up, Van Draanen was a tomboy who loved to be outside chasing down adventure. She did not decide that she wanted to be an author until she was an adult. When she tried her hand at writing a screenplay about a family tragedy, she found the process quite cathartic and from that experience, turned to writing novels for adults. She soon stumbled upon the joys of writing for children.

Feedback from her readers is Van Draanen's greatest reward for writing. "One girl came up to me and told me I changed her life. It doesn't get any better than that," she said. Van Draanen hopes to leave her readers with a sense that they have the ability to steer their own destiny-that individuality is a strength, and that where there's a will, there's most certainly a way.

Her first book was published in 1997, and since then her titles have been nominated for State Award Master Lists all over the country. Now in its tenth installment, the Sammy Keyes Mysteries have been nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Children’s Mystery four times in six years, with Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief bringing home the statue. Additionally, she has won the Christopher medal for Shredderman: Secret Identity, and the California Young Reader Medal for Flipped. Her books have been translated into many foreign languages, and have been optioned for film and television projects. She lives in California with her husband and two sons. Her hobbies include the “Three R’s”: Reading, Running and Rock ‘n’ Roll. (author info retrieved from Random House)
 

Feature Book of the Week # 13 Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Feature Book of the Week

Wonder

by 

R. J. Palacio

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?

R. J. Palacio has written a spare, warm, uplifting story that will have readers laughing one minute and wiping away tears the next. With wonderfully realistic family interactions (flawed, but loving), lively school scenes, and short chapters, Wonder is accessible to readers of all levels.

About the Author

I live in NYC with my husband, two sons, and two dogs. For many years, I was an art director and book jacket designer, designing covers for countless well-known and not so well-known writers in every genre of fiction and nonfiction. I always wanted to write, though. I kept waiting for the perfect time in my life to start writing, but after more than twenty years of designing book jackets for other people, I realized that the perfect time would never really present itself. It's never the perfect time to start writing a book. So I  decided to just go for it. Wonder is my first novel. And no, I didn't design the cover, but I sure do love it. 

A Feature Book of the Week #12 I Pledge Allegiance by Chris Lynch

Feature Book of the Week

I Pledge Allegiance

by

Chris Lynch

Morris, Rudi, Ivan, and Beck are best friends for life. So when one of the teens is drafted into the Vietnam War, the others sign up, too. Although they each serve in a different branch, they are fighting the war together--and they pledge to do all they can to come home together.

Haunted by dreams of violence and death, Morris makes it his personal mission to watch over his friends--and the best place to do that is in the US Navy. Stationed off the coast of Vietnam on the USS Boston, Morris and his fellow sailors provide crucial support to the troops on the ground.

But the Boston itself isn't safe from attack. And as Morris finds his courage and resolve tested like never before, he keeps coming back to a single thought.

He made a pledge. He must keep them safe.

About the Author

Chris Lynch is the Printz Honor Award-winning author of several highly acclaimed young adult novels, including KILL SWITCH, ANGRY YOUNG MAN, and INEXCUSABLE, which was a National Book Award finalist and the recipient of six starred reviews. He is also the author of FREEWILL, GOLD DUST, ICEMAN, GYPSY DAVY, and SHADOWBOXER, all ALA Best Books for Young Adults; EXTREME ELVIN WHITECHURCH, and ALL THE OLD HAUNTS. 

He holds an M.A. from the writing program at Emerson College. He mentors aspiring writers and continues to work on new literary projects. He lives in Boston and in Scotland.

Feature Book of the Week #11 Michael Vey:The Prisoner of Cell 25

Feature Book of the Week

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25

by 

Richard Paul Evans

My name is Michael Vey, and the story I’m about to tell you is strange. Very strange. It’s my story.

To everyone at Meridian High School, Michael Vey is an ordinary fourteen-year-old. In fact, the only thing that seems to set him apart is the fact that he has Tourette’s syndrome. But Michael is anything but ordinary. Michael has special powers. Electric powers.

Michael thinks he's unique until he discovers that a cheerleader named Taylor also has special powers. With the help of Michael’s friend, Ostin, the three of them set out to discover how Michael and Taylor ended up this way, but their investigation brings them to the attention of a powerful group who wants to control the electric children – and through them the world. Michael will have to rely on his wits, powers, and friends if he’s to survive.

A Guest Post by Richard Paul Evans

I have been an author since 1995 when I published The Christmas Box, a short novel that I wrote for my two young daughters. Since then I have written over twenty novels, but I must say that the books in the Michael Vey series have been my favorite to write! I’ve had a lot of fun creating the characters and the different scenarios they encounter.

Two things inspired Michael Vey. First, after writing literary novels for more than two decades, I wanted to write something just for the sheer joy of it. I’ve always loved superhero stories. When I was a boy I used to rake leaves for the neighbors for money to buy comic books. So writing Michael Vey was personally satisfying. Second, I felt like the Young Adult genre had been overrun by vampire- and dystopian-themed books. I just wanted to write an original good read—something unique and exciting that conveyed a positive message.

Many people have asked about my inspiration for Michael Vey, because he certainly isn’t your “typical” hero. Part of Michael’s character is based on me—I have Tourette’s Syndrome and Michael’s symptoms are based on my own. I wanted a hero that the average reader could relate to. I’ve never believed that the real heroes of this world have perfect physiques and bulging muscles. A hero’s power comes from the heart not the biceps, and I wanted Michael Vey to exemplify that.

Since the moment I began writing Michael Vey, the series has felt like a gift to me. I look forward to writing the rest of the series and hope that you enjoy reading Michael Vey 2: Rise of the Elgen.

About the Author

When Richard Paul Evans wrote the #1 best-seller, The Christmas Box, he never intended on becoming an internationally known author.

Officially, he was an advertising executive, an award-winning clay animator for the American and Japanese markets, candidate for state legislature and most importantly, husband and father. The Christmas Box was written as an expression of love for his (then) two daughters. Though he often told them how much he loved them, he wanted to express his love in a way that would be timeless. In 1993, Evans reproduced 20 copies of the final story and gave them to his closest relatives and friends as Christmas presents. In the month following, those 20 copies were passed around more than 160 times, and soon word spread so widely that bookstores began calling his home with orders for it.

His quiet story of parental love and the true meaning of Christmas made history when it became simultaneously the #1 hardcover and paperback book in the nation. Since then, more than eight million copies of The Christmas Box have been printed. The Emmy award-winning CBS television movie based on The Christmas Box starred Maureen O'Hara and Richard Thomas. Two more of Evans's books were produced by Hallmark and starred such well-known actors as James Earl Jones, Vanessa Redgrave, Naomi Watts, Mary McDonough and Academy award winner Ellen Burstyn. He has since written 10 consecutive New York Times bestsellers and is one of the few authors in history to have hit both the fiction and non-fiction bestseller lists. He has won three awards for his children's books including the 1998 American Mothers book award and two first place Storytelling World awards. Evans's latest book, The 5 Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me About Life and Wealth, is now available.

Of his success, Evans says: "The material achievements of The Christmas Box will never convey its true success, the lives it has changed, the families brought closer together, the mothers and fathers who suddenly understand the pricelessness of their children's fleeting childhood. I share the message of this book with you in hopes that in some way, you might be, as I was, enlightened."

During the Spring of 1997, Evans founded The Christmas Box House International, an organization devoted to building shelters and providing services for abused and neglected children. Such shelters are operational in Moab, Vernal, Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah and Lucre, Peru. To date, more than 16,000 children have been housed in Christmas Box House facilities.

As an acclaimed speaker, Evans has shared the podium with such notable personalities as President George W. Bush, President George and Barbara Bush, former British Prime Minister John Majors, Ron Howard, Elizabeth Dole, Deepak Chopra, Steve Allen, and Bob Hope. Evans has been featured on the Today show and Entertainment Tonight, as well as in Time, Newsweek, People, The New York Times, Washington Post, Good Housekeeping, USA Today, TV Guide, Reader's Digest, and Family Circle. Evans lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife, Keri, and their five children. (Biography retrieved from Amazon.com)

Feature Book of the Week # 10 Insignia by S.J. Kincaid

Feature Book of the Week

Insignia

by

S.J. Kincaid

The earth is in the middle of WWIII in Insignia, the first entry in S.J. Kincaid’s fast-paced sci-fi adventure trilogy. The planet’s natural resources are almost gone, and the war is being fought to control the assets of the solar system. The enemy is winning.

The salvation may be Tom Raines. Tom doesn’t seem like a hero. He’s a short fourteen-year-old with bad skin. But he has the virtual-reality gaming skills that make him a phenom behind the controls of the battle drones.

As a new member of the Intrasolar Forces, Tom’s life completely changes. Suddenly, he’s someone important. He has new opportunities, friends, and a shot at having a girlfriend. But there’s a price to pay...

A Guest Post by S.J. Kincaid

If there are any future writers reading this, then I'd encourage you to go out into the world and have as many new experiences as possible, and learn as many new things as possible. I write full time now, but paradoxically, the most I ever produced was while I followed an intensive educational schedule in nursing school. I wrote INSIGNIA while taking classes on human physiology and studying the human brain. It's strange how very factual, scientific stuff stimulated my creativity, but it truly did. Whenever I find myself running low on ideas, I usually find the best way to fix that is to get out and do something seemingly unrelated to what I'm writing, or read something unrelated. Writing is an exciting field because the entire world is fodder for your stories.

About the Author

S.J. Kincaid was born in Alabama, grew up in California, and attended high school in New Hampshire, but it was while living beside a haunted graveyard in Scotland, that she realized that she wanted to be a writer. Her debut, Insignia, came out in July of 2012. (Bio retrieved from author's website)

Feature Book of the Week # 9 Rush for Gold by John Feinstein

Feature Book of the Week 

Rush for Gold 

by 

John Feinstein

Bestselling sportswriter and Edgar Award winner John Feinstein is back with another sports mystery featuring Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson—this one set at the summer Olympics in London.  In this book, Susan Carol isn't a reporter—she's an Olympian, competing as a swimmer at her first Olympic games. Stevie is both proud and envious of her athletic prowess. And he's worried by the agents and sponsors and media all wanting to get up close and personal with Susan Carol.  But the more disturbing question becomes—how far might they go to ensure that America's newest Olympic darling wins gold?   

Sports novels abound, but Feinstein's books are all stars. They combine sports action, high-stakes mysteries, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of big-time sporting events.

About the Author

John Feinstein spent years on the staff at the Washington Post, as well as writing forSports Illustrated and the National Sports Daily. He is a commentator on NPR's "Morning Edition," a regular on ESPN's "The Sports Reporters" and a visiting professor of journalism at Duke University.

His first book, A Season on the Brink, is the bestselling sports book of all time. His first book for younger readers, Last Shot, was a bestseller. His current book for younger readers is Vanishing Act.

A conversation with John Feinstein

Q: LAST SHOT and VANISHING ACT feature two budding young journalists. Do you hope to inspire more children to pick up the pen with this novel?

A:I think I'm a little bit like Bobby Kelleher in that I think it is important to steer kids to writing–and journalism–and not TV, which is the easy and popular way to go these days. TV is more glamorous, no doubt, but I know from personal experience that writing–and reporting–is far more fulfilling. I hope this book carries that message in some way...


Q: How old were you when you started writing? Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

A:I spent most of my boyhood planning to be either the point guard for the Knicks or play centerfield for the Mets. By the time I went to college–as a swimmer–I knew that wasn't happening. I started working at the Duke student newspaper as a freshman and was pretty much hooked on journalism by the end of my freshman year.


Q: Several real sports journalists play roles in your books. Are any of them aware that they are in your book? And how do they feel about the way you portray them?

A:All the real people in the book are aware of their, "involvement." Most are amused; some are flattered; Tony Kornheiser has promised to sue me...


Q: LAST SHOT features a serious conspiracy. Has anything comparable ever happened in the history of the Final Four?

A:Point shaving scandals have been a problem in college basketball dating to the 1950s, when the sport was wracked by them, notably at City College of New York (which never recovered) and Kentucky. There have been numerous other point shaving scandals since then: Boston College in the early 80s; Tulane in 1985 and a rumor, never proven, that heavily-favored Nevada-Las Vegas dumped its 1991 Final Four game to Duke.

Q: Your first two books were mysteries. Since then you have written all non-fiction. How did it feel to return to the “whodunit” genre?


A:It was fun writing a mystery again; challenging to try to create a believable story in an environment that actually exists. The main difference between this and my other two mysteries is that the protagonists do not use a lot of the words used by the people in my first two mysteries.


Q: What were some of your favorite books growing up?
A:As a kid I read all the "Hardy Boys," books and "Chip Hilton," and "Bronc Burnett," both series about star athletes. I also read all the Signature and Landmark books, which really got me into history. When I got older I was very into historical novels: Johnny Tremainremains an all time favorite (recently read by my son) and, for some reason, I vividly remember reading, Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Author bio and conversation retrieved from Kids@ Random