Gaston and A Night Divided win March Madness!

It was down to Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio and Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla in the finals.  BSS students were divided...there were many fans of each of these books.  But Gaston was the champ! Our students enjoyed voting on the iPads, using the QR codes posted in the library to help them find the correct website. Voting took place all over the country, and the story of the bulldog family and the poodle family won over many people.  Here is a summary of the book provided by the publisher:

A bulldog and a poodle learn that family is about love, not appearances in this adorable doggy tale from New York Times bestselling author Kelly DiPucchio and illustrator Christian Robinson.

This is the story of four puppies: Fi-Fi, Foo-Foo, Ooh-La-La, and Gaston. Gaston works the hardest at his lessons on how to be a proper pooch. He sips—never slobbers! He yips—never yaps! And he walks with grace—never races! Gaston fits right in with his poodle sisters.
But a chance encounter with a bulldog family in the park—Rocky, Ricky, Bruno, and Antoinette—reveals there's been a mix-up, and so Gaston and Antoinette switch places. The new families look right…but they don't feel right. Can these puppies follow their noses—and their hearts—to find where they belong?


And in the Middle Grade Novel bracket, the winner was A Night Divided by Jennifer A Nielsen.  There will be a long waiting list for this book! Here is a summary of the book from the publisher:

From New York Times bestselling author Jennifer A. Nielsen comes a stunning thriller about a girl who must escape to freedom after the Berlin Wall divides her family between east and west.

With the rise of the Berlin Wall, twelve-year-old Gerta finds her family divided overnight. She, her mother, and her brother Fritz live on the eastern side, controlled by the Soviets. Her father and middle brother, who had gone west in search of work, cannot return home. Gerta knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, to think forbidden thoughts of freedom, yet she can't help herself. She sees the East German soldiers with their guns trained on their own citizens; she, her family, her neighbors and friends are prisoners in their own city.

But one day, while on her way to school, Gerta spots her father on a viewing platform on the western side, pantomiming a peculiar dance. Then, when she receives a mysterious drawing, Gerta puts two and two together and concludes that her father wants Gerta and Fritz to tunnel beneath the wall, out of East Berlin. However, if they are caught, the consequences will be deadly. No one can be trusted. Will Gerta and her family find their way to freedom?

I'm glad we had a chance to read most of the books from the picture book bracket.  There were some great ones!!