ŷ������

Team Alice Queensmeadow!
Members and their challenge shelves:
Kadi (Captain) - Shelf
Montzalee Wittmann - Shelf
Ilsen - Shelf
Anna B - Shelf
Dana - Shelf

Quick reminder:
- Refer to the Rules first and foremost.
- Any questions feel free to ask me.
- Pleeeease make sure your book counts as middle grade by checking it is classed as MG or MG+ on this website: (see the Rules for more info).
- It would be really helpful if you friended me (your captain) so I can see your challenge shelf (if your account is private).


End time: Sunday 1st September 04:00 UTC
New York- Sunday 1st September 00:00
London - Sunday 1st September 05:00
Sydney - Sunday 1st September 14:00
Dubai - Sunday 1st September 08:00
Beijing - Sunday 1st September 12:00

Ice-breaker: come up with a team name!
Choose the name of a protagonist from a middle grade book to be our team name (example: Harry Potter).

(Comment reserved for future use)

I would like to suggest Nikki Maxwell from the Dork Diaries series of Alice Queensmeadow from Furthermore

I have to say Alice Queensmeadow is a great name. So regal and majestic!
The only name I could think of was Percy Jackson😂 it’s basic of me I know.
Anyone have any other suggestions?

I have a question: Can we do the topics in the categories out of order. Like I know each category we have to complete before we move on to the next category but for example, can I complete Task 2 before Task 1?

Ilsen wrote: "I have a question: Can we do the topics in the categories out of order. Like I know each category we have to complete before we move on to the next category but for example, can I complete Task 2 b..."

Yep you can do them all in any order. Even the categories too. You can complete category 5 before category 1 if you like. And complete task 5 before task 2. I only put them into categories because I thought themes were cool😂 Also you get extra points for completing an entire category.

Omg yes that’s awesome! Thank you

Omg perfect!! Thank you so much! I’m currently making my TBR right now!

Another question: For Category 7, in one of the tasks it says pick a book that won a ŷ������ Choice Award. Can we just pick a ŷ������ Choice nominee because every ŷ������ Choice Award winner is literally Percy Jackson or Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Yeah I meant nominee (why did I not write that🤦🏻‍♀��) so that’s fine. I’ll change it now!

Also, I’m going to start making a TBR too! Super excited to start reading more books I’ve got so many in mind...

I already made the ones that I saw from the current prompts! I’m very excited for it!!

I’m glad you’ve actually been able to find books for the tasks! I used a random picker to select which 3 tasks were shown for each category and I thought some of the ones shown were the harder ones out of the category and I thought it’d scare people off😂 I think you’ll like the other tasks too when they’re revealed on August 1st. They’re going to be pushing me to read a lot of new books!

It did take me forever though XD Like it took me two hours and I finally got through some. I’m tackling the ones I own and then I’ll get around to the ones that are not in my comfort zone

Wow the dedication! I fully approve😂 I’m not gonna lie I think I made some of them impossible😬😂 like some of them aren’t something you can look up, it’s something that you just know it happens in a book. I tried to make them all varied so not all the tasks are like that.

I’m going to have a hard time finding books to fulfil tasks that I made up😂 that’s how overboard I went with them! Guess I should start finding books now

Since everyone is adding their TBRs I will add mine to the group. Just to say that I’m not planning on reading all of them but I like to plan everything out XD Particularly I would like to read the ones that I own because I’m on a book buying ban and stuff

Middle Grade Challenge (August 1st to August 31st):

Category 1: Summer
Read a book where a protagonist gets lost: Aru Shah and the End of Time (Own)
Read a book set primarily on an island: Island of the Blue Dolphins (Own)
Read a book that has a falling out with a friend: Click’d by Tamara Ireland Stone (Checked Out)

Category 2: Sweet Treats
A book with a baking scene: The Confectioner’s Guild (Nook)
A book that is 50% brown: Brown Girl Dreaming (Checked Out)
A book based on or similar to the Hansel and Gretel fairytale: A Tale Dark and Grimm (Request)

Category 3: Fly High
A book with a protagonist who leaves home for more than 70 pages: A Problematic Paradox (Own)
A book with clouds on the cover: A Monster Calls (Own)
A book with a cover that is 50% blue: The Phantom Tollbooth (Own)

Category 4: No Capes
A book with superpowers or magical abilities: Not Your Sidekick (Nook)
A book with a character who wears a cape for one scene or more: El Deafo (Doral, International, or West Dade)
A book published by Disney Hyperion: The Adventurer’s Guild (Own)

Category 5: If it weren’t for you meddling kids!
A book with a character who is grounded: Holes (Checked Out)
A book with a protagonist who is a detective: Gilda Joyce (Request)
A book with a group of 5 or more kids: Harbor Me (International and West Dade)

Category 6: Endure
A book that is a sequel: Dork Diaries 2 (Own)
A book with a protagonist with an absentee dad: Some Kind of Courage (Request)
A book that is a prequel: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Own)

Category 7: And the award goes to..
A book with a character who wins a prize/award/medal: Charlotte’s Web (Own)
A book that won a ŷ������ Choice Award: The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl (Own)
A book that was on the NYT bestseller list for more than 10 weeks: Dork Diaries 3 (Own)

Wow I like how you’ve got one planned for each one! Are you planning to read all of them? Which ones are you less likely to read? Because I wanted to know for which tasks I should be planning for.

The ones I’m less likely to read is the ones I don’t own. I’m also doing other readathons so I will like to double on certain one so I’ll let you know!

I would say the ones that are on my priority are:

The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid (not on TBR yet but hopefully it will fit into other challenges)
Aru Shah and the End of Time
Island of the Blue Dolphins
A Problematic Paradox
A Monster Calls
The Phantom Tollbooth
The Adventurer’s Guild
Dork Diaries
Charlotte’s Web
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

Also have we decided on our name? I vote for Alice Alexis Queensmeadow!

I seeeeee there’s still all the other tasks as well.
I wanted to read the Phantom Tollbooth as well! We can both read it and apply it to different tasks.
I’m not sure about the team name because I’m waiting for Anna and Montzalee to check in and give their opinion. I’m going to message them later today but otherwise I love the name so I’m good with it.

Hi everyone!

Hey Anna! What are your thoughts on the name Alice Queensmeadow for our team name? Also check out the spreadsheet to see the tasks shown so far!

Hey guys! I'm really excited to join in with you guys!
I don't particularly have an opinion on the name as I haven't read Furthermore but if ya'll like it, it's fine with me.

I'm not going to pick a book for each tasks because I know some haven't been revealed but I looked at the ones that are posted already and had a few ideas.

For category 7 I wanted to read Blended (it's #9 on NY times middle grade best sellers and has been on the list for 15 weeks)
For category 3 I want to read Pie in the Sky (it would work for clouds or over 50% blue
For category 2 I was thinking Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

I'm not super set on any of these though, and will probably change stuff around as new tasks are revealed and as I search to see which books actually are in my library where I work vs which ones I'd need to request.

Hey Dana! Same to be honest I’m waiting for the other tasks to be revealed more than planning for all of these because I have some ideas about what I want to read too. Your books sound good👍🏻 and don’t worry if you change the books you read or whatever, it’s totally fine😊
Excited to start, soon guys! I’m going to make our team name Alice Queensmeadow.

I love the name! I can’t wait for the challenge to start

12 hours to go...
Before the challenge starts and all tasks will be revealed!
Can’t wait!

So can I just ask in advance that when you complete a book could you just send a message here or add it to the spreadsheet on the tracking tab.

Pleeeeease can you tell me every task the book fulfils and how it fulfils them. Like even if you read it for a specific task, if it fulfils any other tasks too please say. This will be really helpful if I have to switch books around to complete as many tasks as possible get as many points as possible.

For example, the first book I will be reading is:
Dark Age which fulfils tasks 19 because it has clouds on the cover, task 22 because the protagonist has special abilities and task 36 because this book is the second in a series. (After I finish reading it I will add it to my challenge shelf and update the tracking tab on the spreadsheet so it has the start and end date noted. Then I’ll apply the book to one of the tasks it fulfils)

Can books fulfill multiple challenges or is it just that multiple people can read the book?

The first book I’m reading, A Problematic Paradox, fulfills a book with a protagonist who leaves home for more than 70 pages.

1 book can fulfil multiple different tasks BUT can only be APPLIED to one.

Multiple can also read he same book. But that’s not useful unless the book fulfils multiple tasks.

So if Problematic Paradox fulfils any other tasks (it probably will, check out them all when I update the spreadsheet with the full list of tasks) then let me know😊

Ohhhhhh ok! That makes sense!

Glad it makes sense! Can’t wait for tomorrow😩

Ok so it’s technically August 1st but I want to see the rest of the tasks so badly!!

They are officially up! Sorry I was supposed to upload them at my 7AM but it’s my holiday and I’m a big believer in never walking up early when you don’t need to😂

OMG YAY!!! I’m so excited! I’ll probably fill it out later today because I am exhausted and it’s currently 3 am where I am XD I’ll let you know which one I’m reading first

Also, I’m really curious. What are the bonus tasks?

Ilsen wrote: "Also, I’m really curious. What are the bonus tasks?"
They'll be revealed on the 15th! They're worth more points and are supposed to be slightly different than the rest of the tasks. They might just be exactly the same😂

Ilsen wrote: "OMG YAY!!! I’m so excited! I’ll probably fill it out later today because I am exhausted and it’s currently 3 am where I am XD I’ll let you know which one I’m reading first"

Okeydoks do it whenever you're free :)

I am reading Mortal Engines Phillip Reeve and it can be counted for “read a book where a protagonist gets lost��

Sounds great! Let me know when you've finished it!

I would also like to know what books everyone is reading and what tasks are they planning to tackle so that I can get my TBR in order. It's going to be a long night of organizing

Hey Ilsen. Sorry for the late reply. I think we have the deadest team honestly😩🤦🏻‍♀��

So right now I'm reading Dark Age which fulfils these tasks:
"19. A book with clouds on the cover
18. A book with a character that can fly
22. A book with a protagonist who has superpowers/ special abilities
36. A book that is a sequel"

Then I plan on reading The War That Saved My Life which fulfils:
19. A book with clouds on the cover
17. A book with a protagonist who leaves home for more than 70 pages
42. A book with a character who moves to a new home/school

I'll pick one task for them to be applied to but they fulfil multiple.
I'm not sure what I'll read after that. I'm looking for books that are between 100-200 pages because I've realised everything is like 300+ pages and I'm a slow reader so the fastest way to make up for the lack of present team members in our group is to read more shorter books than a few long ones. If you know any shorter MG books let me know!

Ok. So, I perused my tbr shelf for the shortest MG books on there and I came up with this:

Bridge to Terabithia
6. A book with a character who falls out with a friend/best friend
15. A book with a protagonist who loves/likes animals
21. A book with a cover that is more than 50% blue
42. A book with a character who moves to a new home/school
43. A book that won the Newbery Medal in any year �� 1978

Ghost
7. A book published in August of any year �� 2016
38. A book with a protagonist that plays a sport competitively - track
39. A book with a protagonist who has an absentee dad
29. A book with a character who gets grounded (I think)

The Resisters
17. A book with a protagonist who leaves home for more than 70 pages
19. A book with clouds on the cover

The Shadow Collector's Apprentice
39. A book with a protagonist who has an absentee dad

Nightmare Escape
22. A book with a protagonist who has superpowers/ special abilities
19. A book with clouds on the cover

Small Medium at Large
22. A book with a protagonist who has superpowers/ special abilities
??

The first 3 books listed here I am definitely reading, I've already got them ready. And they're short enough that I can read them all. And they all sound really interesting.
The last 2 I might read but I might not so I'll get back to you on that.
I'm going to add all this to the spreadsheet too.
Also, they might fulfil more tasks than that but I don't know unless I read them.

So can I just note that tasks 17. A book with a protagonist who leaves home for more than 70 pages and 19. A book with clouds on the cover are complete. Like they're completely done.

Ok I’m going to try and organize them today when I get back home. I know what books I want to read but I haven’t seen if they fulfilled multiple tasks. And yea we have the deadest team but it’s ok! I’m ready to have loads of fun!

Okkkk let me know when you’ve organised them! Took me about an hour because I was cross-checking them with the arbookfind.com website to check they were MG so shouldn’t take you much longer than that.

And yeah I’m so excited to read some of these books. They’ve been on my TBR for years and I’ve pulled them up from the bottom so that’s definitely exciting!
Also, I have a feeling our group will come more alive as the month goes on... hopefully😂

One can always hope. I'm currently at the library ready to do a big middle grade haul so hopefully I'll get to do some organizing of the TBR.

Also I take that website with a grain of salt because some are classified as middle grade plus when they are clearly YA.

Sorry, I haven't had time to really organize and figure out exactly my to be read books yet, I will try to do that this weekend and have a post of at least a few books I am planning to read and what tasks they fit.

A few questions

1 -- are we allowed to read MG graphic novels for this?

2-- when it comes to audio books it says "more than X minutes long"? What does X mean, wouldn't it just be any audio book whose print companion is over 100 pages?

3-- what if a book isn't on that website? I have a few books from netgalley I was thinking of reading but they aren't on the arbookfind site yet so I don't know if I'd be allowed to use those

@Ilsen honestly yeah I’ve noticed some books are classified strangely but majority are correct. Tbh you kind of know if a book is MG or not just by its content and the way it’s written so I’m sure it’s fine.

@Dana it’s cool take your time! Read whatever you like and just let me know when you’ve finished it. You don’t have to plan a TBR but honestly I think it’s easier to do that you don’t read a book that can’t be applied to any task.

For q1 yeah graphic novels are allowed but they should be more than 150 pages rather than 100 just because there’s less text in them in general.

For q2 wow I didn’t even change it from X minutes🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀�� when I first came up with the rules I was going to do some research on how many minutes is equivalent to 100 pages but clearly I forgot😂 today is a day of mistakes first the scores and now this😂
Buuut what you’re saying makes total sense. It’s fine as long as the book equivalent is 100 pages or more👍🏻
I’ll change all that right now before I forget.

Sounds good, thanks.
I guess I just won't count any netgalley books for this challenge

Actually ARCs from Netgalley are fine as long as both ŷ������ and Netgalley lists the book as MG and it’s more than 100 pages long. One of the other teams asked me about it already so if you want to read an ARC that’s totally fine!