Graphic by Evan Roffman
Renee Lu
Features Reporter
Throughout March, thousands of people across the country fill out their brackets for the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament. It is a month full of thrilling buzzer-beaters, Cinderella teams, and competition. At Newton South, multiple variations of this tournament were created for topics other than basketball—one being March Book Madness.
March Book Madness was started by a group of English teachers from Ohio in 2015, and since then it has spread across the country. Students and teachers get to vote on book match-ups throughout March. This year, the South library has created a Young Adult-themed March Madness bracket.
The librarians first used the nationwide bracket because “it would be more interesting to participate in something like that that had more votes from kids across the country,” said Ms. Dimmick. Now, Newton South is one of hundreds of schools that participate in the March Book Madness each year. Ms. Dimmick’s favorite part of March Book Madness is “having an excuse to promote free and independent reading to students.”
Overall, the 16 books chosen differed greatly: there were books with LGBTQ+ main characters, books in verse, murder mysteries, family dramas, and graphic novels. They ranged from romance novels such as What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera, to mystery novels like The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, and sci-fi novels like Skyhunter by Marie Lu.
Although it was a close year, the final two books in the young adult bracket were Broken Things and Concrete Rose.
Broken Things by Lauren Oliver is a murder mystery that follows two girls that were accused of murdering their best friend while Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas is a prequel to the popular book The Hate U Give. Concrete Rose follows the main character Maverick as he learns how to balance his life with graduating from school, being a father, and coping with the loss of a loved one.
Broken Things was a valiant opponent; however, Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas ended up winning.
See here for a list of the other 14 books:
- Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo is written in verse and follows two sisters who have never met each other. After a tragic plane crash, they must cope with the death of their father, and when all is lost, they discover each other.
- What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera is an LGBTQ+ romance set in New York City.
- The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes follows a teen girl who receives a huge inheritance from a billionaire and must solve a mystery to figure out why.
- The Diviners by Libba Bray is a murder mystery set in New York City in 1926. The main character Evie has magical powers that she must hide from her family.
- This Will Be Funny Someday by Katie Henry is a contemporary fiction where Izzy must grapple with two different lives, and discover her true identity.
- Walking in Two Worlds by Wab Kinew follows two characters, Bugz and Feng, who live in a virtual world.
- Skyhunter by Marie Lu takes place where a federation is taking over, and young warriors are putting themselves at risk for the greater good.
- More Than Just a Pretty Face by Syed M. Masood is a rom-com that follows Danyal who must balance love, family expectations, and being a Renaissance man.
- Burn by Patrick Ness is about a girl named Sarah and her dad. They hire a dragon to help with their farm but then have to deal with all the complications that come along with it.
- The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe follows Norris, a smart kid who recently moved from Canada to Texas. He has to cope with his parent’s divorce and the struggles of moving in the middle of the school year.
- Wanted by Cindy Pon follows Jason Zhou, a boy who hopes to fix the corruption in his world until his plan almost falls apart.
- Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Solomon is a romance about two academic rivals whose lives change dramatically within 24 hours.
- Nimona by Noelle Stevenson is a graphic novel where the main character wants to be a villain.
- Frankly in Love by David Yoon follows Frank Li as he falls in love with a person his parents would not approve of and must find a way to hide it.
